Der Lauf der Dinge
by Kami no Hikari
Summary: {UPDATED}Ruki trapped in a cave with Ryo and only a book to entertain her, she starts pondering how she got there in the first place ... please R&R rated PG-13 to be on the safe side
1. Wettlauf gegen die Zeit

  
  
  
  


**Der Lauf der Dinge**

  


I

Wettlauf gegen die Zeit

  


_[Race against time]_

  
  
  
Disclaimer: If Digimon were mine, 02 would've ended VERY differently, I'd have a fifth season with the tamers all above 15 and my fics would be on the BIG screen n_____n!!   
  
This fic was written by a fan for fans and I don't intend to make money with it. Digimon © ™ rightfully belongs to the people of Toei Animations Akiyoshi/ Hongo, but I do claim ownership rights on the plot and any other figure I've created (except Satoshi and Kasumi) Ain't got no money so please don't sue u___u! *yoroshiku onegaishimasu*1   
  


~*~

  
  
  
KnH: My first real fanfic folks (well acctually it's kinda my fifth attempt to a fanfic, but this plot was the most appealing to me n____n)   
  
Pu-chan: PAH, admit it, you were just too lazy to write the other ideas down >____>   
  
KnH: Oh, you again! Ladies and Gentlemen, I hereby proudly present to you, my inspiration and my muse, Pu-chan (*growls* brat, some muse you are u____u!!)   
  
Pu-chan: HEY! I HEARD THAT *deathglare*   
  
KnH: Yeah, whatever! Anyway, as I was saying, I was reading Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, and at the same time thinking of Violet Emeralds AAML/R fic and_bamm_ the entire plot took it's form (pretty weird huh?? o___O!! I mean, who reads a book and thinks of ten billion other things alongside?)  
  
Pu-chan: A weirdo like you, for example!   
  
KnH: Oh would you shut up! But on the other hand, you're right, I must have been pretty weird, for creating YOU! o____o!   
  
Pu-chan: This is startin' to get personal! >_____> *even deadlier glare*   
  
KnH: *pushes her out of the picture*   
  
Anyway, if you've ever had the pleasure of reading "Because" (Violet Emeralds) you might catch the inuendo, when reaching a certain point n___~!   
  
Pu-chan: laaameeee!!   
  
KnH: Well, if it's lame then it's acctually all your fault, cause you're the one who's supposed to "inspire" me, ne? n____n *got'ya*   
  
Pu-chan: …   
  
KnH: Just what I wanted to hear! Silencium strictum! n_____n *teehee*   
  
OK, so let me explain:   
  
I prefer sticking to their original names, so it's Ryo (without the U) and Ruki and any future character I invent will have a japanese name too, except it's kinda essential in the plot (and I'll be throwing in some japanese phrases here and there, which I'll explain later in footnotes).  
Even though I detest leveling the two to same age, it is quite important in this fic, and I had to transform Ruki's all-girl-school into a mixed one (gomen to all those who are (like me!!) fond of "stick- to-the-real-deal-as close-as-you-can"!! u____u)   
  
So five years have past since the whole D-reaper incident, everything's kinda back to normal and thanks to Hypnos, Ruki can visit the Digiworld every now and then to see Renamon. She doesn't hang out with the gang as often as she used to do, but she tries to keep in touch with Jenrya and Juri as much as she can (phone, that is!)   
  
As you might have allready noticed, the title of my fic is german (the language here in austria) and it litterally means "The run of things" or "the way things run/go". I wanted to write the fic in german in the first place, but it seems like there are more english-speaking Ryoruki fans out there, but if I happen to get over my lazyness some day, I might translate it u____u!!*ja, was auch immer*   
  
Pu-chan: yeah right!! *rollseyes*   
  
KnH: What? You again? I thought I silenced you at least 'till chapter two!   
  
Pu-chan: You wish! If I keep quiet, you'll mess this whole thing up, I think it's time I take over!   
  
KnH: Well then, fine! try your luck, muse, see if you can handle this >____>!!   
  
Pu-chan: Thank you! Please excuse my "excentric" little creator Baka no Hikari, for she knows not what she is doing!   
  
KnH: >_____> *glare*growl*   
  
Pu-chan: n_____n So, to introduce you to the chaotic system she came up with *rollseyes* speaking, thinking and actions will be marked like this:   
  
"Speaking"  
'Thinking'  
*Action*  
  
  
KnH: Sounds pretty logic to me   
  
Pu-chan: Do you actually know what the word logic means?? >_____>   
  
KnH: Would you cut that out? I'm your creator, your master, you are nothing but my MUSE, so pay me the needed respect >____>   
  
Pu-chan: Yeah, whatever! By the way, I wanted to thank C.Queen for beta-reading *my* fic, and pointing out some of Baka no Hikaris mistakes   
Allright, enough chit-chat, on with the fic….   
  
KnH: Thank GOD she's done!   
  
Pu-chan: Don't worry sweety, I'll be back n____n   
  
KnH: I've created a monster T_____T   
  
  
  


~*~

  
  
  
They sat silently, her gaze wandering from one object to the other, trying not to look in his direction but he just sat there leaning against the wall, his arms crossed in front of his chest though he occasionally cracked an eye or two open to make sure she hadn't taken to the hills.   
  
'If I keep my mouth shut he won't have any chance to say something in return, besides, what is there to discuss with him anyway? Just because we're trapped in here, ALONE, does NOT mean we have to actually entertain each other!'   
  
Ruki was starting to get desperate. Imprisoned in this cave with Ryo as her "cell-mate", a violent storm raged outside their secure surroundings, which hindered her from escaping a long time ago. She'd already brainstormed about how to yank herself out of this queer predicament, some ideas were pretty much agreeable and the others not so good, but they all ended up with her getting soaking wet and she had already had her share of rainwater today so under great gnashing of teeth she thanked him for the little campfire he made to keep them warm and the cave illuminated, even though he was still the last person she would have ever voluntarily shared 10 square meters with. Fate has its strange ways (A/N and in this case, Fate is none other than ME MWAHAHAHA! Eehehe, sorry u_____u!!) and so she found herself in this to her abhorrent situation, 'What did I do to deserve this, and how the heck DID we actually land here in the first place?'   
It was more of a rethorical question she asked herself again and again.   
  
Crackling of blazing fire, flickering of dark shadows cast upon the stone walls, occasional sniffing and a sneeze here and there followed by mumbled 'bless you's and a little rolling of the eye were the sights and sounds of the cave.   
Our chocolate-haired azure-eyed hero was getting bored. The cold silence which persisted in their peculiar situation was not appealing to him so he was thinking of ways to literaly break the ice. He had tried playing cards with her, or bringing up a conversation by asking her a few questions, which she answered either with a glare or with unsatisfying brevity, so he had to be very carefull selecting his words.   
But if there's one thing that Ryo has learned during the short time he was fortunate to spend with Ruki, it's the fact that she had an unpredictable temper and any wrong thing said even if kindly meant, may cause it to flare up, and no telling what death defying stunt Ruki might pull of next!   
Thinking he might have found a topic to start a converastion with he was just about to open his mouth when immediately silenced by Ruki, who fervently began to search for something in her backpack. Ryo arched an eyebrow, curious to see what she was about to produce out of her bag.   
  
'Huh? what's he staring at?-stupid- never seen a girl holding a book, oh yeah I forgot, the only "books" you see girls hold, are autograph bookletts, right? If you dare say anything stupid I'll strangulate you'   
Ruki who tried to keep the silence up which was more or less a safety fortress to her shielding her of any kind of embarrassment or openness she might reveal, took out, much to Ryo's surprise, a book which she opened and immediately proceeded to read.   
  
Now what threw Ryo in his state of utter bewilderment was not the fact that Ruki was acctually reading a book moreover it's content, which nearly made him chuckle 'Akino Ruroki no Rabu-Raifu? (the love-life of Akino Ruroki)   
Nani? *snicker* Ruki and romance-stuff? I never thought that SHE would read stuff like that! Oh, hold it!… ah! Eiki Saketori's newest release, maybe that's why, it's like the number-one-best-seller among teenage girls, but then again, Ruki?   
But on the other hand, there is a slim chance, that Ruki might have a romantic side, I mean despite her tough tom-boyish appearance she still IS a girl and girls are supposed to like stuff like that, right? Wrong! Not if that girl's named Ruki the Wildcat Makino, she's too cool for that kinda thing. But what if she does have a nack for love-stuff? Wonder what that side of Ruki looks like, all lovey-dovey and so?! NAH! it wouldn't do, she just wouldn't be Ruki' He tried to imagine what a more sentimental Ruki would be like ' *Shudder* that's not the Ruki I know and learned to like, or maybe even……no, no Akiyama, don't even THINK that way. First, Ruki-chan would skin you alive if you said that out loud. But I didn't actually say it out loud now, did I? '   
He stole a quick glance over to her side, to assure himself he hadn't spoken out any thought loudly. Due to the fact that he'd spent most of his time alone in the Digiworld, he tended to talk loudly or to himself whenever a thought crossed his mind, so having to think without speaking was kind of new to him, but he had to get used to this new situation fast, if he didn't want to arouse Ruki's anger.   
When he stared, Ruki felt his gaze rest upon her, so she questioningly looked up from her book and their eyes met for some seconds. 'Does my face look that bad when it's wet? Why is he staring at me like that?' It seemed like they were looking at each other for far too long, because a slight blush started to creep up his cheeks causing him to quickly turn his head to the opposite direction and pretend as if nothing happened, and she nonchalantly returned to reading her book.   
  
'Uh well, maybe your interest is only based upon the fact that for the first time in your life, you couldn't get what you wanted, which is her attention, huh? what am I thinking? Baka2 -- I just bruised my own ego, haha! But I somehow can imagine Wildcat leaving me to hang off the edge of a cliff as if she didn't care *snicker*, that would be so much like her, but then again, she did give me her powers when fighting against Shinigami-reaper didn't she, maybe she does give a damn about me, just a tiny little bit, right, Ruki-chan?'   
A small smile, accompanied by an inner sigh curled his lips 'Boy, she'd kill me if I called her that ' Lucky for him that Ruki couldn't read his mind.  
  
Meanwhile Ruki mentaly kicked herself for taking that book along in the first place, so she took a quick peek over the upper edge of it, just to see the expression on his face; what might he be thinking, when he sees her reading this book.   
  
'Kuso!³ What makes that baka grin? Smooth move Makino, now he's bound to give you a smart-ass remark! Why on earth am I acctually reading this piece of crap anyway? - Because, pea-brain, you not only have a big mouth, but an even bigger ego' Her second inner voice which she constantly fought against snarled at her 'Curse you Kotomi, never in my life will I EVER place a bet with you again, this is all your fault -- Didn't you say that the last time too? And the time before that? - Grrr! shut up now, will you!'   
  
  
~*~ Flashback ~*~   
  
"Yeah and then she went like, ME and HIM? NEVER!!!"  
*Hahaha - teeheehee -- giggle * fits of laughter and giggles emitted from a group of girls holding a girlie-breaktime-chit chat arround a commrades desk.   
"That reminds me of Eiki Saketori's newest book 'Akino Ruroki no Rabu-Raifu' ? It's a must-read!"   
"Yeah I've read that one already. Saketori's teenage-love novels are the best there is" - "You said it, this time she has really outdone herself: I like Akino but I don't share her opinion, she thinks that love is nothing but a worthless illusion"   
"Uh-huh, it's Hotori to the rescue, to save and mend her broken heart; he suddenly shows up in her life and then things start to change"   
"But you all know that it was that "incident" that made Akino the way she was, it was a terrible devasting tragedy which tore her family appart."  
"The way Saketori-san describes every thing is just so unbelievable you always feel as if YOU were in the book yourself *sigh*"   
"Oh Hitomi, no nead to get all sentimental, it's only a book"  
"But how Akino and Hotori get together is just so downright romantic and sad and funny and all at the same time it brought tears to my eyes"   
"Hitomi you baka, don't tell the end I haven't read the book yet and now you've ruined the fun" Sonoko pouted and all the girls giggled in that typical girlie-way.   
  
It was break-time after the japanese history lesson and a horde of 15 year old girls could be seen all grouped up arround Kotomi Shimano, the school's most popular girl's desk, discussing Saketori-san's newest publication into detail (more or less).   
Makino Ruki was the only one who refused to partake in what she called 'brainless - chit chat-for-stupid-little-girls!' Expecially if they involved topics such as love, romance, boys and fashion, which they allways consisted of. She rather resolved to solo daydreaming-sessions at her desk, oblivious to the happy scenery surrounding her, when she was abruptly torn away from her trail of thoughts by the suffix she most dreaded to hear.  
  
"Penny for your thoughts, Ruki-chan?"  
"Nani4?" She had not noticed that everybody had already left the classroom, everyone execpt Kotomi, who stood in front of Ruki, hands on her desk, head cocked to the side and her gaze fixed on Ruki's face which held a dreamy expression when staring out of the window.  
"What? Are you thinking of Saketori-san's book 'Akino Ruroki no Rabu-Raifu'?" "Kitsune-CHAN" spitefully putting an emphasis on the suffix 'chan' and flashing her one of her infamous Makino-dagger glares,  
"First of all, don't you ever, EVER call me Ruki-chan again! I know you do this just because you know how much I hate that, besides we're not in youchien5 anymore!" - "I know!" Kotomi replied with a wink, sticking out her tounge  
" Just tried to catch your attention, it works all the time" Ruki merely ignored her last statement and continued,  
"And secondly, as my so-called 'best friend' you should know that I don't give a damn for stupid girlie-crap."   
"Oh please do forgive me Makino-sama" she said in mock reverence "For I hath truly forgotten the things of life in which you find utmost delight" and batted her eyelashes which irked Ruki even more.  
"Urusai wa ne!6" She hissed behind gritted teeth and flashed her yet another glare! Kotomi couldn't help but laugh at her "best friends" antics.   
"Oh Ruki if only you knew." - "Knew what?" - "How much you resemble Akino" - "What do you mean resemble her?"   
"Well, you act or better said, re-act the same way when confronted with what you call idle-girlie-crap" - "Well then, maybe that Akino-chick has spunk, I think i'm starting to like her" Ruki mentioned with a sarcastic smirk,  
"Yeah, she'd say that too. You see, you both try to be tough, strong 'kick-ass' chicks and end up being strongheaded, sharp-tongued, and the words "love" and "romance" are nonexistant in your vocabularies. It's like Saketori-sama knew you in person and described your entire life…"  
  
"Not quite, Kotomi! First of all, that love'n'romance crap you girls feed on like hungry vultures, is not the most important thing in life, there are other things to focus on, and if stuff like that make me behave as bubbleheaded as you girls do, then no thanks, that just ain't my style! By the way there's ONE thing Saketori didn't get straight. On the contrary to Akino, I DON'T fall in love in the end!!!  
Expecially not with a swank such as Hotori Natsuyama, who puts on a stupid smirk and makes stupid little girls freak out!"   
Ruki was peeved by the mere thought of boys who's appearences and traits were akin to those of Hotori, despite the fact that he was only a fictional figure, or was she so disgruntled because they so reminded her of a certain chocolate-haired, azure-eyed lad?   
  
Kotomi waved off her last statement; she was sure Ruki would say something like that but it didn't move her one bit because she was in a rather good mood today and whenever she was, she would also be in the mood to tease others, with her main target beeing 'eternal-sour-puss' - Ruki, so she just had to top it of with another witty remark,   
  
"That's the Ruki we all know and grew to 'love' but do not fret my dear friend, because one fine day you too will become the target of cupids never failing arrows, and if that day comes, we will all rejoice with you!"   
"Ha! you wish! The day I go swooning because of a damned guy, is the day my mom gives up modeling and shuns make-up!" seconds of silence elapsed as they tried to imagine Rumiko Makino, disgusted of make-up and giving up her modeling career, and then they simutamously burst out laughing.  
  
"Hey where is everybody?"  
"It's P.E my dearest cousin everyone's… "  
"ARE YOU WACK? don't EVER call me that again in this entire building! You remember the deal all right, what if someone heard you?"   
  
Ruki raged with fury while she yelled at the top of her voice. Being called "cousin" by Kotomi, was, to her, even worse than being named Ruki-chan, nobody in the school knew that they were in any way related to each other and Ruki wanted to keep it that way because she had allready made some unpleasant experiences with "Cousin Kotomi".   
Besides, being seen together with the school's most popular girl, didn't go with her image of "Miss. Anti-girlie".  
  
"Calm down Ruki, and don't get your underwear into a wrinkle, sheesh!" Kotomi retorted waving her hands infront of her in a defensive manner  
  
"It's P.E. everyone's gone because the hour has allready begun"  
  
Then it dawned on Ruki that they were alone in the classroom, and it peeved her that Kotomi had once again not only infuriated but also scared the crap out of her, so she toned her voice down and growled, "Don't forget our deal! Not a word to anybody! You keep it a secret, and I'll tolerate your ditz-crap, you got me?"   
  
"Yes ma'am, Ruki-sama ma'am!" that sweet sweet voice Ruki hated to hear topped off with a salute and the clapping of her heels.   
  
The glance she threw at the classroom clock hanging on the wall above the blackboard revealed that they were more than just a little bit late,  
*gasp*   
  
"Chikusho kuso7! Kobarayashi-sensei is so gonna fry us, if we don't show up right now!"   
  
"Ok, then let's get going, but I must admit, I wouldn't get all hyped up about what's on the curriculum for today"   
  
"What?"   
  
"100 meters. Sprint!"   
  
Ruki smiled.  
The girls quickly ran to the lockers at the back of their classroom where the whole class usually deposits their P.E.-stuff, grabbed them in a hurry and headed off to the next lesson.   
  
The moment she slid the door open and stepped out into the hallway, Ruki had the strangest feeling of being watched, so she spun her head arround to the left and right but the corridors were empty on both sides.  
'Hmm, kimyou8' she muttered with a frown, something just wasn't right here, she couldn't exactly put a finger on what it was, but it was bothering her, she smelled trouble.   
  
"Come on Ruki, or we'll be late"  
"Kitsune, did you see anybody here in the hallways?" Surprised by the sudden question Kotomi turned her head, to see if the hallway was empty   
"Nope, as far as I can see, no one's here, the lessons have allready begun, everyone's in class and were pretty late"   
  
"But I thought I saw someone"  
  
"Oh, come on Ruki, really, nobody's here we're the only ones, you're just seeing things now let's go, before Kobarayashi-sensei totally freaks out"   
  
" 'Guess you're right, and I'm really starting to go nuts, let's go"  
  
She looked over her shoulder once more to assure herself that they were really alone in this section of the hallways, and there was no time left to look arround the corner behind them and check the other corridor too.  
Maybe they should have.  
  
A shady figure peered arround the corner watching as the two girls ran across the hallway to catch up their lesson. A crooked, sinister grin krept up his face showing of an unknown facet of his personality, suddenly his trademark innocent puppy-like expression, which he was known for, vanished and gave way to this mischievous, perfidious alter ego. "Eehehe, who would've guessed…"  
  
  


~*~

  
  
  
There are times when Ruki ponders and asks herself 'why', apart from the freaquent bickering, name-calling and denial of any association of any kind, she acctually tends to have a close amicable relationship with a girl who seems to be the total opposite of herself.  
Kotomis gay, outspoken and open personality doesn't quite comply with that of Rukis, nor her popularity in school, both with teachers and commrades of which the majority is made up of male students.   
She is known for her beauty and witt. Seemingly the incarnation of innocence on the one hand but a sly vixen on the other, a slim slender figure, and an unusually tanned complexion for an asian girl (due to the fact that she was half Filipino and half Japanese) Her long shiny, slightly curled, raven-black hair, shimmering blue when touched by light, cascaded down her shoulders, and her dark almond eyes which with only one batting of the eyelash, could instantly turn tough boys into helpless stammerers and will-less underlings of her volition, held a certain mischievous glint.  
But the answer was just as simple as it was annoying. Kotomi knows something no one else is supposed to know and with that "little secret" she possesses a certain power over Ruki, which she uses excruciatingly, to her advantage, calling it a "help to lighten" her up.   
  
Not many people see what Ruki sees in her cousin/"best friend". To the rest of the world, she is sweet, innocent, beautiful, smart, helpful, social Kotomi whome everybody just has to love and admire.   
Even Rumiko has fallen for her, for she loves to see her daughter spend as much time as she can with her cousin, who's so pretty and has such a great taste for fashion.   
It seemed like only Ruki was aware of the double-cross game Kotomi apparently played, she knew her other face, which she named Kotomi's "true" face, the sly vixen (the reason why Ruki nic-named her Kitsune, sly fox), but it is funny, when Ruki comes to think of it, she can not assert that she hates Kotomi in any way, on the contrary, there's something about that girl which allways keeps Ruki in her company against her own will. She likes her, yes she does, in a sense; after all Kotomi is her cousin, but she'd never admit, neither to herself and most certainly not to Kotomi.   
  
They got themselves dressed in the uniformed P.E. outfit: marine blue "bloomers" (brief-like pants) t-shirts with their names embroided on them, and not to forget the hatimaki9 and sneaked out onto the sportsfield where the rest of the class including Kobarayashi-sensei were engaged in Rajio taisou10, lucky for them, because that way she didn't notice their absense.   
  
"Good! As you all know, girls, we have to start preparing towards the annual sports festival which will be coming up in two weeks. There will be many athletic competitions, such as sprint and 100 meters on time"  
Rukis face lit up like a christmas tree when she heard that, this year too, she'd have the opportunity to prove herself again; she was the fastest female runner of her year, and she sometimes even beat older opponents or even boys.   
"We'll need five groups to take care of the various stations. Group one will be in charge of sprint, 100 meters on time, and the 2,5 km run. Group two: shot-put, hammertoss and javelin throw. Group three will be in charge of long and highjump, group four will take care of all the ballgames, basketball football and the like and group five will be the organisation and decoration group, you must make sure that everything runs smoothly and the stations look presentable."   
I just want to remind you that this is not a an all-girls-event, so you will have to work together with the boys as we part you into the various groups, we the teachers will be supervising you though! We all hope that the groups cooperate very well and never forget:  
"_Accurate preparation is the linchpin of the entire event_"  
It seemed like this wasn't the first time the girls had heard Kobarayashi-sensei's favorite motto because they all chanted it in unision, some more or even less enthusiastic.  
Every girl anticipated the end of her speech so she might call out the names, and they would gather up in groups, and before you knew it a spry discusion was on the go with it's main topic being, which boy could end up in which group. Ruki rolled her eyes in an irritated manner,  
  
'Stupid-idiotic-brainless-moronic-kooky-swooning-guy-crazy-little-bratz'  
  
She hoped to join the sprinting-group and prayed that at major part of the before mentioned species would land in the other four, but it was even worse than she expected.  
  
"Group one: Koigawa, Shimbun, Toriyama….."  
  
'Pleaseletmebeingrouponepleaseletmebeingrouponepleaseletmebeingroupone'  
  
"Sekiguchi, Tsubuya"  
  
'Pleaseletmebeingroupone'  
  
"Makino…."  
  
'HAI [yes]!!!'  
  
"Shimano and Tajiri"  
  
'OI [d'oh]!!'   
  
  
"Looks like we'll be working together this year, to help you break your last years record." Kotomi smiled sweetly at Ruki, seemingly enjoying the idea of having to work together with her.  
"What do you mean 'help' me break my last years record?" Ruki didn't like the way this sounded, she was getting suspicious.  
"Well, we all know that last year and the year before that, you won first place on the 100 meters, two years ago it was 17 sec. and last year 16,30! There's no one as fast as you are Ruki-chan" Ruki's intuition told her that Kotomi was up to something her tone was too flattering, it was alarming.   
"I know my scores Kitsune, and believe it or not, I ran to make them, and yes, maybe I do intend to surrpass them this year, but my question is, what are you up to, and above all why on earth are you suddenly so interested in my running?"   
Being overdramatic and pretending to be utterly hurt by Ruki's harsh words she replied, "Oh, but Ruki-chan, I'm your cousin, how could you think so ill of me? You winning this race and achieving your goal is very important to me, and as a member of your family I want to do everything possible in my power, to assist you in fulfilling your dreams" All that was missing was a rainbow coloured background plus showering glitter mixed with rose-petals and the scene would have been anime-perfect. Ruki sweat-dropped. -____-!!!  
  
"Ok Kitsune, save your theatrical act for drama club, and get to the point!"  
"You know, I was just thinking…"  
"Never thought that that was one of your strenghts", she cut her of rather harshly,  
"What exactly were you thinking?" Kotomi ignored her comment and continued,  
"Well, I thought that maybe this year, you could hit a clean 15 sec. but on second thought,. naaah, that would be to much, even for you!" Kotomi spurted out before putting on her teasing mask of perfect innocence, pretending as if she'd never said anything, she spun arround and was just about to leave, when Ruki grabbed her by the shoulder and tore her back, growling,  
  
"Hold it right there, Kitsune! What exactly do you mean, 'even too much for me' ?? You tryin' to tell me that I can't run that fast, and that I'm not able to beat my own self?" "No, well, erm,.. not exactly"  
"Not exaclty WHAT?" Ruki had a really short temper.  
"You see, 15 seconds is kinda short and on a hundred meters?…."  
"Oh yeah?"  
"I dare you!" she said all of a sudden, changing from defensive to offensive mode Rukis eyes started to glare dangerously  
"I see this as a chanllenge"  
"Ok then, let's bet, if, on the day of our sportsfestival, you happen to run those 100 meters in 15 seconds and under, I'll, let's say get you that rare Digimoncard-thingie you've allways wanted"   
*twitch* that wasn't the right term for Ruki's most wanted card, but anyway.  
"But if you lose, then…….erm…. - suddenly switching her expression from sweet'n'innocent to very very fiendish - this could get good! Ah, I know, you'll have to read Eiki Saketori's book 'Akino Ruroki no Rabu-Raifu' !"  
For a split second Ruki was shocked but then regained her composure, she allready had the notion that Kotomi was up to something, but nothing of that kind though. 'Why on earth would she want me to read a book if I lose? Crap, this is so not like her, but then again? Oh the sly vixen, what is she up to?'   
  
"You are up to something, right? I knew it!"  
  
"Why Ruki? You think you don't have what it takes to beat your own self? I mean, we might as well screw the whole thing, and all be satisfied with second-best, but I honestly think that that position doesn't comply with your potentials as a runner" Ruki rather felt teased than flattered.  
  
"I've never backed down from a challenge, and I don't mean to do so know, you better get your credit card ready, 'cause it seems like someones deck here is going to be enhanced in the near future!" Now was the time for Ruki to flash Kotomi a fiendish glare.  
"Then it's a deal?"  
"Deal!"  
They shook hands on it.  
'Ha, got'ya right there where I wanted you! My plan's working, never thought my tom-boyish little cousin would fall for it and swallow the whole bit in one piece so easily, well then we, proceed to phase two'  
  
  
~*~Two Weeks Later ~*~   
  
  
Eventhough the sun was shining so bright it blinded her, she still gazed into the heavens using her hand to shield her eyes, there wasn't a single cloud in the sky and a slight breeze whirled across the sportfield.   
'Perfect conditions' she thought and grinned.  
The festival was in full progress, looked like group five gave it's all to make this day a grand success, there were balloons, banners, music and many refreshment stands, every member of each group let their "connections" work for them and so, found many sponsors for the sweepstakes and prizes alongsides.   
A loud voice blasted through the loudspeakers, announcing the race, it was time for all the runners to gather at the racing track; Ruki's big moment had finally come.   
She was not nervous, not at all, on the contrary she was pretty sure of herself and trusted her skills to win.   
"Ganbatte yo11, Ruki-chan!" Kotomi ran up to her and tapped her on the shoulder  
"Peh, screw that Kitsune, luck's only for losers, and I don't need it " she snorted slapping her hand off her shoulder  
  
"If you say so" *wink*  
  
"**_ON YOUR MARKS….._**"  
  
'This is my chance'  
  
"**_GET SET…_**"  
  
'I'll show you Kotomi, you'll regret that you ever challenged me, mark that down!!'  
  
…  
  
"**_GO!_**"  
  
'I NEVER back down from a challenge!'  
  
As they took of, Ruki gave her all. Accelerating her rythmic pace she started to feel lighter and lighter, as if her feet never really touched the ground. She was so fixed on her goal that she became oblivious of the cheers ment for her, which went through the crowd, there was only her, the racing track and the finish line. This race she was running ment everything to Ruki, not only because of Kotomi; running allways gave her a certain feeling of freedom, as if she could flee from the world and escape all its troubles.   
  
Eventhough her opponent was to be taken serious, Ruki was in the lead by some few split seconds, when suddenly half way down the track, through all the cheering and rooting, a male voice penetrated through the din and reached her ear, hollering 'RUN, COUSINE RUKI, RUN!'.   
  
It nearly made her stop dead in her tracks.  
  
These splitseconds of inadvertence, gave Kairi Sekiguchi the perfect opportunity to overtake Ruki, who quickly managed to bring her attention back to the race, put an extra effort in successfully taking back her head position and dashing through the finish-line.   
  
Suspence filled the air as everybody waited for the results to be announced.  
Had Ruki made it this time again? Had she broken her record and triumphed over herself yet another time, or have all her efforts been in vain?   
Surely that "interruption" was very very distracting and it could have her cost her her victory.  
  
  
  
  
DUNNDUNN DUUUUNNNNN! Cliffhanger!  
  
KnH: Ain't I evil? n______n  
  
Will Ruki score better than last year win the bet and receive that digicard she allways wanted?   
Will she and Ryou be stuck in that cave forever, and what's up with that book anyway, who was that disrupting voice in the crowd???   
If you really want to know if Ruki made it or not, or are curious to read what might happen in the cave, all you have to do is just klick that little button below *pointsdown* that says "GO" right next to "Submit Review" and all it takes are at least 5 reviews and I'll continue!!!   
  
By the way, it's still a flashback, Ryo's not out of the picture yet, incase you missed him, he'll be back again in chapter two (I hope) n_____n!!   
  
Pu-chan: So you nice people out there, please be so kind as to review, 'cause I'm putting all my effort into this fic (so Hiki won't mess it up)  
  
KnH: Shut up now, will you? This here still is MY fic  
  
Pu-chan: Yeah, whatever!  
  
KnH: u____u!!*sigh* Sayonara minna-san, see you next chapter n____n!!  
  
p.s.: don't forget to visit my ryoruki shrine BaP it's all about our fav couple and you can find pu-chan there too, so drop us a visit, and tell us what you think, link is:   
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
Pu-chan: oooh my gosh, Hiki nearly forgot the footnotes, here, let me take care of that  
  
1. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu … I humbly ask you to be kind to me  
2. Baka … Idiot, jerk, moron (but I believe everyone knows that by now n___~)  
3. kuso … damn it! shit!  
4. nani … what  
5. Youchien … kindergarden  
6. urusai wa ne! … shut up!  
7. chikusho kuso … damned shit!  
8. kimyou … strange  
9. hatimaki … headband  
10. Rajio taisou … daily exercise routine accompanied by music  
11. Ganbatte yo! … Go for it; good luck  
  
  
  
  



	2. Der Verlust der Gewinner

  
  
  
  
**

Der Verlust der Gewinner

**   
  
_

[Loss of the winners]

_   
  
  
  
KnH: I'm back and guess what, I brought along a second chapter n____n. Sorry that it took me this long to update, but I had the worst case of writers block you could ever imagine, anyway I'm glad I've got this off my harddrive, it's been lying arround here for far too long!   
Once more, I wanna thank Cqueen for beta-reading my fics, domou arigatou gozaimasu u____u!!*bow*   
  
I don't really feel like doing the disclaimer, so I'll let Pu-chan take care of that. Take it away Pu…   
  
Pu-chan: Arigato Hiki! *Ahem*clears throat*   
  
  
Disclaimer: Digimon, digital monsters, Digimon is not mine   
If you sue, I bet you wouldn't even get a dime n_____n   
  
  
KnH: Well, that was very,……..original o____O?!   
  
  
~*~   
  
  
  
Suspence filled the air as everybody waited for the results to be announced. Had Ruki made it this time again? Had she broken her record and triumphed over herself yet another time, or had all her efforts been in vain?   
Surely that "interruption" was very very distracting and it could have cost her her victory.   
  
  
~~~   
  
  
"Sekiguchi Kairi 16,39; Makino Ruki …………………. 15,28!   
  
New record!!!   
  
The whole croud cheered for her, as she had just beaten her own self.   
  
It took a while for the news to sink in on her that she had just won the race, and while the cheerfull uproar of the crowd broke the silence which was caused by the suspence, Ruki couldn't join the chorus and instead faltered and fell on her knees, utterly flabbergasted by the fact that she had won.   
Yes she HAD won, won the race, beaten Kairi, beaten herself and managed to escape the whole world for a full 15,28 seconds but she didn't feel like cheering, not at all, her pride had just been badly hurt, she had taken off a bite too big for her to chew and now swallowing seemed hard.   
Ruki who desperately turned over to look at Kotomi, her eyes wide in shock and begging for help (something she truly hated) met her mischievous smile which was more than just suspicious.   
Now this was getting to much even for Ruki, the last thing she remembered was 'Someone hold her' before everything went black.   
  
  
~*~Several Hours Later~*~   
  
  
Atashi wa doko desu ka(1)???  
Was the first question that shot through her mind when she opened her eyes and found herself lying in a sterile bed surrounded by blinding white walls while the sickening smell of desinfectant that filled the entire room reached her nose.   
  
"You're in the sickroom, thank God you finally woke up, Ruki"  
Kotomi who sat on a chair next to Ruki's bed emitted a sigh of relief, thanking the deities above that she had recovered her consciousness.  
  
"What happened and why am I here?"   
  
"Don't you remember anymore?"   
  
"The last thing I remember is that I won the race, broke my own record and then…?" Rukis voice trailed off as she tried to remember the recent occurrences and there seemed to be a hole in her memory.   
  
"Well, we were all chearing for you 'cause you won, but it seems like you overstrained yourself and then you blacked out and Hajime and Satoshi carried you in here."   
  
"WHAT?" all with a sudden, strenght regained, she sat bolt upright in her bed, the name Satoshi ringing a bell.   
  
"Satoshi Tajiri carried ME in here???"   
  
"Well, yeah, when he saw you drop like a stiff log, he was the first one to get to you, he was very helpful and he looked so worried."   
  
"Why was HE worried? What the hell's wrong with that guy, I've told him time after time that I don't want anything to do with him, I'm not Kasumi."   
  
"Oh Ruki, now don't be too hard on the poor guy, he was only concerned about you, besides I think he's sweet, what's your problem with him?"   
  
"OH if you think he's so cute, then why don't you date him?" she commented with a cynical sneer.  
"For heavens sake will you stop trying to find me a boyfriend, I told you like a gazillion times that I'm not into such things, besides I'd never want to be the girlfriend of some freak who sees someone else in me!"   
  
"Uuuh, harsh words there Ruki-chan." she said, playfully stressing the -chan.   
  
*glare*growl*   
  
"Speaking of love and relationships, I hope that bump on the head you took on your way "down", didn't make you forget that we've still got a deal running, now did it?" Kotomi threw her a knowing smile and her response was an icy glare.   
  
"After all this, you still have to rub it in, don't you?"   
  
"A deal's a deal!"   
  
"But I acctually WON the race, remember? I beat Kairi fair and square"   
  
"Yes but we bet that you'd make it in 15 seconds and under, remember? What you scored were 15,28; see it as it is Ruki," then she took another deep breath before hammering home the message.  
  
"You lost!"   
  
*death glare*growlll*   
  
"This is so pathetic! Ack, me and my big mouth" she slapped her forehead and groaned.   
  
Flexing her fingers before luxuriously stretching herself, Kotomi continued her victory-rant apparently enjoying the way she was pushing Ruki into a corner she wasn't comfortable with, making her do and say things she'd never really want to say, Kotomi had her right where she wanted.   
  
"So, Ruki do you want to buy your own copy or borrow mine, I'm through with it anyway, so you can have it as long as you wish!"   
  
"Kitsune, now be honest, why on earth are you doing this, I mean what's the sense in forcing me to read a book of that kind? It just doesn't figure!"   
  
"Simple! When you lose a bet, you get to do something galling, and don't tell me you'd ever pick up that book out of your own free will and read it just for the fun of it?!"   
  
Ruki just pouted and kept quiet, obviously Kotomi had a point there.   
  
"Ok then, I'll give it to you tomorrow, and don't forget you HAVE to read from front to back without leaving out a single page or skipping chapters"   
  
"Hey, what do you think of me, I may have lost but my sense of honour forbids me to stoop so low as to forgo my punishment, I will stick to my part of the deal, and read that damn' thing!"   
Apparently Ruki's pride has not been totally broken, if she couldn't defeat Kotomi by running a race she'd at least not let her have the pleasure of seeing her chicken-out on a lost bet.   
  
"Yeah whatever." she said rolling her eyes before adding with a chuckle, "You sound like one of those fighters in these vintage martial arts movies."   
  
  
As childish as it felt to Ruki, she stuck out her tongue making Kotomi look surprised before bursting out in a fit of chuckles which in return made Ruki join the chorus, two laughing girls.   
  
"Ne, Ru-chan, that face of yours was priceless, can you do that again?"   
  
"Ha, you wish!" a smug smile tugging at her lips.   
  
Sighing heavily they both recovered from their little fit of laughter, when Ruki suddenly noticed that the sun was setting as the flaming red and orange light of the evening sun flooded the enitre room tinting every white surface with it's warm colours.   
  
"Kitsune, ima nanji desu ka?²"   
  
"Ima rokujihan des³!"   
  
"WHAT??? six thirty? How long have I been lying here?"   
  
"Well for about 6 hours now, you broke down arround noon right after your race, and since that you missed out on all of the festivities, I even had to take your medal for you, here! Whoa Ruki you really had us all worried back there, after you made that mad dash through the finish line we were about to carry you off like the champion you were, well carry you we did but not quite as we expected." giggling at her own joke Kotomi reached for the medal which she had put on the nightstand next to Rukis bed and handed it to her while she gingerly accepted it carefully turning it over some few times reassuring herself that it was real.   
So it was not real gold, why would it be, these weren't the olympic games after all, but this circular piece of gilded brass dangling from a red ribbon, engraved with the silhouette of a running girl, meant just as much to Ruki as real olympic gold would mean to a top athlete. Kotomi knew that so it surprised her even more, when she saw Ruki putting it back onto the nightstand sighing with a sad expression on her face.   
  
"Why, something wrong with it? You don't seems to be all that pleased, I mean this is gold, you can't achieve more than this."   
  
"No, no it's not the medal, it's just that this-like many other achievments of mine- will go unnoticed by my mother, she'll hand me another one of her fake 'Oooh, well done Ruki' before picking up her mobile and rant with another one of her ten-thousand agents or maybe even return to ponder which hat to combine with which outfit.." the bitter undertonw not pass Kotomi by and she kinda felt sorry for Ruki.   
  
Ruki had always detested self pity and felt disgusted that she had allowed herself to sink so low, especially in the presence of Kotomi, so she shook herself and tried to raise her spirit again.   
  
"I think I'm OK now, I should go home it's getting late,and who knows maybe I will turn sick in the end if I lie here for too long." Admittedly it was a lame attempt to a joke but Kotomi who knew Ruki very well understood and smiled along with her.   
  
Kotomi stood up and went to look through the window to see if all the left over traces of the festival had been cleared away.   
Everyone had left, except one shadowy figure which lingered about the school building seemingly staring up at her window.   
  
"Hey, isn't that Satoshi standing down there all by himself?" she turned arround to inform Ruki while pointing out the window,   
"Really?" she too wanted to see for herself if he was the one and joined Kotomi but when she looked down, she couldn't see anybody,   
  
"Where?"   
  
"But he was right there just a minute ago, where did he go to this fast?"   
  
"Maybe it wasn't him."   
  
"Maybe he was just in a hurry."   
  
"I don't have the time to worry about him right now, I better get going."   
  
"Ok then, let's go"   
  
  
They reached the entrance of the school and before Kotomi pushed the door open, Ruki threw her a knowing glance, Kotomi understoood imidiately and nodded. Ruki stepped out of the door followed by Kotomi but if a passer-by would have wittnessed the two girls current interaction after walking through the door, he or she would think of them as nothing more then mere strangers to each other who were by chance exiting a school building at the same time.   
  
It might seem surprising but if you gave it a second thought, it was almost logical, especially from Ruki's point of view. After all she had an image to live up to, what if somebody they knew saw them together outside of school, acting as if they were best friends? Nobody knew that they were such close relatives and nobody should know, she couldn't risk this secret being discovered, hence their little "denial-game".   
  
So they parted and each went her own way in oposite directions, Kotomi could have had her personal chauffeur come over to pick her up but she decided that she'd like to take a little stroll through the shopping streets of Shibuya before she'd go home finally.   
  
  
The glowing red evening sun hung low in the sky and cast it's flaming light upon Ruki's back which danced up and down her body as she moved while her shadow which was stretched to a considerable length, always moving a step ahead of her. Again she was caught up in her own little world of thoughts, a peeved frown adoring her face when suddenly she saw a shadow, apart from her's flashing up right next to her, only for a short while but it didn't pass her by. Spinning around abruptly to find out whoever was sneaking up behind her, adrenaline rushed through her entire system tuning all her senses on red alert, ready to defend herself if need be.   
What she found was nothing, nobody there and it was quiet, left for the far off bark of some dog in the neighbourhood and the calls of its master to shush.   
  
'Hm, strange. I could swear I saw something!?'   
  
She took some few more steps to the corner of a house, when that same strange shadow she had seen a while ago appeared again. This time she decided to observe the shadow for a while, and she was right in her assumption, whatever IT was, it was following her. Ruki stopped dead in her tracks stood still for a second before turning arround. Again it had dissapeared, now Ruki was fed up.   
  
"OK, who are you and what do you want from me?"   
  
No reaction.   
  
"Either you come up here RIGHT NOW and face me or quit following me!"   
  
Her eyes flashing with eagerness she was determined to battle whatever was about to come her way be it man or digimon.   
Slowly it peered arround the corner she had just come along, holding it's hands up in a surrendering manner.   
  
  
"Tajiri???" she had expected any other one but him, even a deva wouldn't have knocked her out of her socks as his apppearance did.   
  
"Pleasedon'thurtme?!" he winced, approaching her.   
  
"What in the name of Kami are you doing here stalking me like that?" shocked, yes but soon relieved to find out that it was somebody she knew, more or less.   
  
"Why, did I scare you?" due to the fact that he had almost nearly perhaps even maybe scared the living bejezuz out of the unshakable Ruki Makino amused him and made him feel a bit securer now as he drew closer.   
  
"No you didn't baka, but why are you following me?"   
  
"Well erm,..you see, after the race you suddenly fell over and I,… I mean -we- had to carry you to the sick room and well you…"   
  
"Yeah I know what happened Tajiri, I was the one who fell, my question is, why are you stalking me?!" impatience evident in her voice.   
  
"I didn't get the chance to see you again, I was worried and wanted to know how you are?"   
  
"Well as you can see, I'm just fine!" Attempting to avoid any further conversation, she spun arround irritated, continuing her original direction.   
  
He stood there in his spot for a moment, perplexity stated all over is face, watching her walk away from him.   
  
'No you don't! Not this time, you walked away from me once and you're not gonna walk away again!!'   
  
All with a sudden his bewildered expression was replaced by one of determination, and he instantly ran to catch up with her, when he got to her he slowed down his pace, adjusting to hers so now they were walking side-by-side.   
  
"What, Tajiri?" she barked harshly, trying to daunt him.   
  
"You can call me Satoshi" he smiled hopefully.   
  
"Hhmm..."   
  
His hands were shoved into his pockets, his gaze fixed on his shoes, Ruki just tried to ignore the fact that she wasn't alone while moments of silence elapsed as they just kept on walking next to each other, the tapping sound of their shoes connecting to the cool grey asphalt echoing along the empty street.   
  
  
"Anata ga suki des(3), Ruki" he suddenly blurted out into the silence, making Ruki stop dead in her tracks and turning to stare at him,   
  
"Nani?" He had caught her off guard and for a split second she even looked surprised but quickly regained her cool, she wouldn't let him get her that easy, but what actually stunned her wasn't the fact that he'd admited his feelings for her, she had been sensing them for a while now. There was something strange about the way he behaved in her presence, she knew she had it coming someday but not today, not right now.   
  
He pulled his cap deeper into his face, failingly trying to hide his blush and the embarassement, then he continued stuttering.   
  
"W-w-well, you see, I-I've allways liked you Ruki a-a-and….i know you don't feel the same way for me as I do for you, but I just wanted to tell.. let you know, that I really really like you………willyougooutwithmeonsaturday?" that last part was a bit hurried though. One way or the other, you could feel sorry for the lad.   
  
Ruki struggled not to roll her eyes and sighing deeply hated such moments, bad enough to see this mush-stuff everywhere in the media, the last thing she needed right now was a personal experience and she cursed this day to hell. There weren't many things in life Ruki was grateful for inheriting from her mother, her famed beauty, which was putting her in this awkward situation in the first place, being on of them.   
Her day had been too long, she had faced too many disapointments and she was tired, Satoshis little "confession" wasn't quite what she wanted to hear at the end of such a day. Now he had it coming.   
  
"Look Satoshi I don't like you, so get lost." she barked her eyes glinting dangerously daring him to go any further and if he was smart, he'd heed her warnings, but it seemed like he wasn't.   
  
"So, is Saturday fine with you?"   
  
" I said GET LOST!" quickening her pace she tried to shake him off.   
  
"How 'bout Sunday? Sunday's always fine with me…"   
  
This was starting to freak her out, she stopped to turn and glare daggers at him.   
  
"Hey you freaky twerp, which part of 'GET-LOST' don't you understand" not at all intimidated, a dreamy expression crossed his face.   
  
"Your hot temper sets your eyes ablaze, burning like the evening sun, oh Ruki, you are so beautiful when you're angry."   
  
Now, he was pushing it, Ruki losing her temper grabbed him gruffly by his collar, ready to make him regret what he had just said, when suddenly a certain jet-black Mercedes C-class limousine caught both their attention and their eyes trailed the car as it lessened its speed and came to a standstill, pulling up at the sidewalk right beside the kids.   
Ruki absentmindedly let go of him, staring intently at the car's tinted glass window as it rolled down slowly in a smooth motion, revealing none other than…   
  
"MOM??"   
  
"Ru-chan? I knew it was you. I was just driving down the street when I saw an orange pineapple bobbing up and down, and I asked myself 'Is that not my Ru-chan's pineapple?' and lookie here, it was *giggle* seems like there aren't many bobbing pineapples in Shinjuku, ne?"   
Ruki threw her a deadly look for calling her 'Ru-chan' not only in public, but also infront of Satoshi and as always Rumiko would just ignore her warning signals, continuing with her rant. Leaning her right ellbow on the windowframe she tipped the end of her sunglasses on her lower lip, giving Ruki a smug smile,   
  
"Ne, Ru-chan, tomodachi no namae wa nan des' ka?(4)"   
  
"Tajiri, my mother, mom, this is Tajiri Satoshi, my _classmate_!!! (not my friend)"-she muttered barely audible,   
  
"Dozo yoroshiku(5)" Satoshi greeted with a polite bow   
  
"O-genki des ka?(6)"   
  
"Daijobu des kudasai(7)"   
  
"Now would you two cutt the small talk, I wanna go home." Ruki interrupted visibly irritated   
  
"OK then, ne, Sato-kun would you care for a lift?" her mother asked making 'Sato-kun' blush as he didn't expect to be called that cutesy name by her mother   
  
"Than…"   
  
"Yes he'd care, right _Sato-kun_" she hissed, flashing a dangerous glare daring him to accept the offer.   
  
"Thank you for the kind offer Makino-san, but I do not mean to bother you, I live not far away from here."   
Apparently Ruki's attempt at intimidation worked; browbeaten, Satoshi declared that he lived just arround the corner, barely five minutes walk from here, so a lift wouldn't be necessary, though it wasn't the truth.   
  
"Are you sure? 'Cause there's enough space in the back?"  
Enough space in the back, (maybe not quite alone but nevertheless) was Mrs. Makino trying to tempt him? Who wouldn't want to sit in the back of a car with her gorgeous daughter? He stared blankly through the glass window at the two empty seats in the back of the car, chewing his lower lip. The thoughts racing through his mind at the moment would have surely been rated a PG-13 and nothling less, giving him something to brag about in the day time and dream of in the night for weeks to come.   
  
  
Noticing that he was totally engulfed in a brown study, she glared at him slightly disgusted and gave him a nudge to snap out of it.   
  
'The creep, what was _he_ thinking of???'   
  
"Back…seat….-- A-a-ah yes, yes I'll be fine, totally fine, no need to worry about me Makino-san, thank you very much". he bowed deeply, not quite trying to show her respect, furthermore it was an attempt to hide his furious blush.   
  
"Ok then, have a nice evening then."   
  
"Konban wa(8) Makino-san"   
  
"So Ruki, you comin' home with me?" turning to face her daughter now.   
  
"Hmph…"   
  
Usually she'd send her mother away, hating beeing picked up by her on her way home, because there was always the chance that she might branch off and go on a wild and spontaneous shopping spree with Ruki or something like that, but this was an exception, she was trying to get rid of Satoshi, and in this case, beggars can't be choosers so she grumpily reached for the car's chromium handle, opened the door and landed in the seat with a thud. Slamming the door she looked straight ahead waiting for her mother to drive off without even waving Satoshi good bye.   
And all the poor guy could do was just stand there on the sidewalk waving after them, crestfallen, like a puppy left alone in the rain, watching as the car drove off into the sunset leaving him behind.   
  
After the car was out of sight he let his waving arm drop limp next to his side bowing his head, his shoulders starting to quake and a mixture of chokes and chuckling could be heard as he clenched his fists together. Once again, a girl he'd loved had stepped (better said, drove) out of his life without even saying goodbye, this was unfair so very unfair, why always him?   
Suddenly the sobbing and chuckling got louder, revealing the shocking fact that he was acctually laughing, not crying. Throwing his head into his neck his maniacal laughter echoed along the empty streets as he mentioned her name every now and then between chuckles.   
  
"Good bye Ruki-chan, my _dearest cousin_ but not farewell, we shall meet again, mark my words."   
He hissed like Gollum in Lord of the rings. His fiendish smirk and the malicious glint in his eyes would have made every Impmon in the digiworld turn green with envy.   
  
"MUAHAHHAAHAHAHHA……eeehehehe, oh man, I've definitely seen way too many movies" *sigh* shoving his hands into his pockets again, he continued his way back home.   
  
  
~*~   
  
  
"Ne, Ruki, that Satoshi what's-his-name seems to be a very nice guy?"   
  
"Seems!" she scoffed.   
  
"I think he likes you." Her mother winked into the rear-view mirror, knowing exactly that her daughter would see her and catch her dig.   
  
"Peh, I know he does." she snorted.   
  
"How that?" Ruki's mother didn't seem to expect that answer.   
  
"Why, he just told me." she commented matter-of-factly with a slightly cynical undertone.   
  
"NO! Really, he did?"  
Instantly paying more attention to her daughter than to the street ( A/N: that would be kinda like the first time in her life) Rumiko was more excited to hear this than her daughter was, when Satoshi told her.   
  
"Aaawww, kawaii(9) !!! And, is he your boyfriend now? Did he ask you out on a date? Where are you going to? Saturday maybe? You'll need a new outfit, I'd say navy-blue hip-huggers and maybe a cerulian neckholder crop-top, a pair of plateau flip-flops, you can put your hair up, but maybe wearing it down wouldn't look that bad either, oh yeah, I can see that, you'll look absolutely dazzling Ru-chan, he wouldn't know what hit him, how 'bout we go shopping right now, shops are still open you know?"   
  
"MOM, would you CUT THAT OUT??? and LISTEN to me for ONCE, HECK!!!" Her countless attempts of silencing her mother seemed to be in vain, once she was on her fashion-rant, there was no stopping her.   
Ruki, on the very verge of exploding desperatly tried to keep her cool while a nervous vain popped on her forhead, she hated such moments.   
  
"ONE, Satoshi Tajiri is NOT my boyfriend he's not even my FRIEND"   
  
"TWO, I'm NOT going out on a date with him, even if he were to be the last guy on earth!"   
  
"And as a result to point two, I'M definitly NOT going on a wild shopping spree with you right now! " Totally agitated, Ruki tried to make her point clear to her mother.   
  
She in return sighed and shook her head in that "I-thought-as-much" manner, rolling her eyes the way only Ruki could, which explains where she got it from in the first place.   
  
"Look honey, you're fifteen, it's all normal that kids your age begin to feel things which are totally new to them, emotions start coming up and stuff, and suddenly you see boys in a totally different light, and it's OK, to feel scared, the feelings are still new to you, and you'll be denying them for a while, but don't worry everything's gonna be alright" and winking at her daughter again she ended,"Just Give Sato-kun a chance."   
  
Realising that this conversation was going absolutely no where, she sighed in defeat [A/N:she of all people!!]. Yeah, she could shout back, throw pointy remarks or even have a fit of raving madness, but after 15 years, she'd learned that it was smarter to just give up in such cases, especially when they involved her mother. Groaning heavily she slumped back into her seat thinking of a new subject to talk of, or remain silent for the rest of the car ride.   
Rumiko took another quick glance in the rear-view mirror, looking at her daughter for some few seconds, thinking of her.   
  
"Hey, hon' you hungry? How 'bout we go get something to eat at Ucchan's? You like their Okonomiyaki(10), ne?"   
  
"Hm…" which which was Ruki'sh for 'yes'.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

    
    
    1) Atashi wa doko desu ka Where am I?  
    
    2) Ima nanji desu What time is now?  
    
    3.) Anata ga suki I like you  
    
    4.) Tomodachi no namae wa nan des ka What's your friends name?  
    
    5.) Dozo yoroshiku Pleased to meet you  
    
    6.) O-genki des ka? How are you  
    
    7.) Daijobu des kudasai I'm fine thank you  
    
    8.) Konban wa Good evening  
    
    9.) Kawaii cute  
    
    10.) Okonomiyaki a mixture between pancake and pizza.  
    
    "Okonomi" means "as you like".   
    
    This refers to the ingredients.   
    
    (All you Ranma-fans out there, ya  
    
    know the stuff Ukyo allways fries for  
    
    Ranma-kun n___~) 

  
  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
  
  
YAAAAAY, I'm done, hope you liked it, drop me a review, you know the ol' rant, at least five, to get new chap's off my hard-drive.   
I know I promised that Ryo would come back this chap, but he just couldn't make it, don't worry, he'll return in chap 3, promise n_____n!!   
  
  
  
  



	3. Urlaub? Ich denke nicht!

  
  


**Urlaub? Ich denke nicht!**

_

[Holidays? I don't think so]

_   
  
KnH: For all you who thought that this fic had fallen into oblivion, here's some good news: I did not, I'm (finally!!!) back with chapter three and to make it up to you I made this chap longer. Sorry to keep you waiting though and have fun reading nn!!   
  
Thank you C.Queen for beta-reading!!!   
  
Pu-chan: Digimon's neither mine nor Hiki-chans', if it were,…..that'd be awesome!   
  


  
  
The scent of fried vegetables and meat reached Ruki's nose even before her mother slid open the rice-paper door of the little Okonomiyaki restaurant. Ucchan's Okonomiyaki was a small restaurant somewhere in the outskirts of Nerima, one of the 23 wards of Tokyo. The food was fantastic and sometimes Ruki wondered why there weren't many customers here, each time they visited, not that she didn't enjoy the solitary peace which was offered next to deliciously fried dishes. Walking into the food-haven, Ruki and her mother went over to sit on their favorite 'log' which was a large piece of square wood with a cushion on top to make sitting a bit more comfortable. When taking her seat Ruki made sure to keep her hands on the wooden ledge alone, the only thing separating them from the counter which at the same time was the hot plate on which the okonomiyaki was fried for the customer to see and the ledge was only wide enough to put your plate, cup and chopsticks on. The restaurant was situated in a very remote area where you wouldn't find many wealthy people, and if there were to be any rich ones, they wouldn't dine here, so thinking of her mother's luxurious car parking in front of the restaurant, caused a nagging feeling of embarrassment creeping over her.   
  
"Why didn't you take the Beetle?"   
  
"Mom needed it, so I took the Mercedes."   
  
"Where's grandma going to?"   
  
"A health resort in Hokkaido for the rest of the week." her mother replied nonchalantly as if it were an everyday issue.   
  
"WHAT? that's like at the other end of the world, why didn't she tell me?" it nearly knocked Ruki off her log to hear that her grandma had left town without even telling her, she'd never expect her to do such a thing, her mother maybe, but not Seiko!   
  
"Ruki, my mother is a grown person, she does not need our specific permission to go out. She can do so whenever she wants to. Besides, she did tell you early this morning, but you were in such a hurry to get to school you didn't hear her."   
  
1 to 0 for Rumiko. Ruki opened her mouth and shut it again. Tthis wasn't the right moment for a smart-ass remark, she'd called her Ruki and her tone was quite serious, not the usual 'all's peachy' one. Little did she know. Her mother had given Seiko the spa-week trip to the Onsens'(1) of Hokkaido as a birthday gift in advance, only to fulfill her own selfish purposes, she had everything planned out and this trip was part of her plan.   
  
"So, what's it gonna be today?"  
A cheery voice interrupted their discussion. The familiar voice belonged to Ukyou Hibiki, the owner of the restaurant and chef cook, a beautiful young lady of about twenty-eight years in the possession of very appealing features such as thick long dark hair which she held up in a high ponytail using a white band, a cute round face and huge innocent looking eyes, which could deceive you, because Ukyou always knew more than you'd trust her to know. Her marine-blue working attire looked somewhat like a ninjasuit and her white apron with the many little compartments, held one tiny spatula each and when I say tiny I really mean tiny, compared to the gigantic oversized combat spatula which hung on the wall for decoration purposes, those meant for cooking really were tiny. Every time Ruki dined at Ukyous', she'd always look at the spatula in amazement and wonder, if it had ever been in use before, except hanging on the wall to beautify the place, combined with her skills and the ninjasuit she wore it was very imaginable that Ukyou might have seriously kicked some major ass with that spatula. Ukyou was very skilled when it came to making okonomiyaki though, and the way the energetic woman flipped and tossed the richly decorated dough and fried it to sizzling perfection, was a high art.   
  
"Erm,….i'll have mine Osaka-style." Rumiko said after thinking for a while, which was unnecessary, because she always had her okonomiyaki Osaka-style and Ukyou knew that very well.   
  
"What about you Ru-chan?" just for the record, Ukyou Hibiki was the only person (apart from grandma Seiko) who was officially permitted to call Ruki 'Ru-chan'!   
  
"Will it be Rukinomiyaki today?"   
  
"Yes, thank you!" Ruki nodded smiling.   
  
Ukyou went straight to work, mixing egg flour water and many other ingredients which were needed to make the okonomiyaki dough and when she was done mixing and knitting, she proceeded to decorate the two pancake-like pieces with meat and vegetables, not to forget the delicious sauce, meandering its way through the mountain and valley landscape of batter and legumes, followed by a splatter and sizzle which emitted from the black hotplate while the steam rose from the okonomiyaki and the various spicy scents emitted from it and wafted directly into Ruki and Rumikos' nose, instantly making their mouth water. The alluring smell increased their appetite and both their eyes followed Ukyos swift hand movements with which she flipped and tossed the okonomiyakis from one side to the other frying it to scrumptious perfection.   
  
A minute later, Ruki's plate was filled with a unique and delicious okonomiyaki, just the way she wanted it.   
  
"Ittedakimasu(2)"   
  
and they began to eat.   
  
"So, Ru-chan, what are you gonna do Friday or Saturday?" then Rumiko added with a wink "That date with Sato-kun still on?"   
  
"No, I will not date that jerk" she growled slightly.   
  
"But he's seems such a nice guy"   
  
"Mom, we've had that already and I said NO."   
  
"This is your last week of school and you haven't dated a single guy yet, don't you think it's about time?"   
  
Was Rumiko deaf or only pretending to be and where was this conversation leading to anyway? Ruki smelled trouble, her mother had laid a trap and if Ruki wasn't careful enough she might fall for it.   
  
"Which part of NO don't you understand?"   
  
"Not in that tone, young lady."   
  
growl   
  
Rumiko returned to eating her food and without even looking at Ruki, she continued lecturing cooly.   
"You should face it, that guy likes you, he told you so and from what I saw today I'd say from now on he'll chase you no matter where you go or what you do. That kid'll be after you and odds are he won't let go until he gets what he wants and the more you reject him, the more he'll be head-over-heels for you. It's only one week 'till summer break but it could become a very long week you know and then what'll you do?"   
  
Ruki who threw her a skeptical glare, wasn't sure to which devious schemes her mother was up to yet, but whatever it was, it sure wasn't good.   
"Simple, if he dares to make a move on me, I'll clobber him!"   
  
Rukis' answer was met with a fake sounding laughter from her mother, merely causing her skeptism to grow.   
"Oh Ruki, violence is not the answer."   
  
"Sure it is, works every time now can we change topic? I'm not in the mood for this right now."   
  
"Oh, you just reminded me. Ru-chan, have you ever heard of the famous photographer Satô?"   
  
The name did ring a bell and sounded familiar to her but actually she couldn't care less so a simple "hhmm" was her reply.   
  
"Anyway I met him at work a week ago, where he was the supervisor of the session. After the shooting he invited me to have dinner with him and after a little conversation he told me how impressed he was by my work and that he was about to start a new summer collection project and he needed ME as a model, can you imagine?"   
  
Staring blankly ahead, apparently not interested at all in what Rumiko had to say about that Satô-grapher, Ruki ceased to listen after the third word was spoken, nevertheless she threw in some 'hmm's inbetween, feigning attentiveness.   
  
"So we kept on talking for about an hour and he told me about his son, Teelo, Neo or something like that and that he models too at times. I told him about you and that you model for me too and since his project was about summer fashion for teens and young adults, he said he'd love to have you model for him as well, what a unique offer. I told him you'd be glad to come…"   
  
The sudden involvement of Ruki in this matter instantly tore her out of her trail of thoughts and she stared at her mother in disbelief.   
"Say WHAT??? ABSOLUTELY and DEFINITELY NO! I'm NOT going to model for ANYONE, I don't care how famous he or she is, no way!"   
  
"But Ruki I promised! It's an important appointment and Satô is a very busy man you know. It would be totally unprofessional to blow off an appointment like that."   
  
"I don't care!"   
  
"It would mean a whole weeks trip to Fukuoka(3)"   
  
"Fukuoka? Why's that?" she perked her ears, a sudden growth of interest apparent.   
  
"Because the session is to take place at Fukuma Beach, so we'll have a photoshooting and after a hard days work we can all relax at the beach or go windsurfing or you can explore Fukuoka together with his son, they live there you know." she added with a wink.   
  
"His son?? Are you trying to hook me up with a guy again?"   
  
"Now come on Ruki I would never try to hook you up with a guy I don't know well."   
  
Ruki gave her the 'yeah-right'-look and Rumiko continued. "Besides, Satô mentioned that he was into some kind of monster card game and so are you, right? You have a lot in common already and will have many ideas to share. Nemos' dad's a great guy and he son's gotta be wonderful, trust me on that."   
  
"His name's Nemo? What kind of a name is that?" a slight hint of disgust was evident in her voice.   
  
"I don't quite remember what his name was, but you shouldn't judge people after their names. Come on Ruki and give it a try, you'll love it and Fukuoka is the place to be."   
  
Ruki was silent and thought of another excuse to bring up, she sure wasn't going on a photoshooting with her mom in Fukuoka with some freak called Nemo and his pseudo-artist dad.   
  
"But school isn't over yet, can't you just let me stay home, leave some money behind and go to Fukuoka alone?"   
  
"Honey, you're only 14 and your grandma isn't home for the whole week. I can't just leave my 14 year old daughter alone at home and take a trip to Fukuoka, it's against the law!"   
  
"I don't mind."   
  
Then with a uncharacteristically smug smile Rumiko retorted, hammering home the clear message,   
  
"Sato-kun wouldn't mind either…"   
  
That certain glint in her eyes said everything. Ruki perfectly understood and groaned in vexation. Now she had the choice between staying at home and risk being haunted by Satoshi-the-creep-Tajiri or go with her mom on a gruesome photoshooting session in Fukuoka and meet Nemo-the-freak or whatever his name was. On the other hand, Nemo meant 1. No school 2. Extended holidays and last but not least NO SATOSHI and after careful consideration she came to the conclusion that the latter option might be the wiser and let's not forget Kotomi and her sappy book, she'd manage to escape all that in one session. Maybe this wasn't that bad after all, besides the idea of Fukuma beach didn't sound that bad either.   
Swallowing down a huge lump, also known as her pride, or was it the last bite of her okonomiyaki, but not wanting to grant her mom the pleasure of triumph, she accepted the offer reluctantly.   
  
"OK, OK I'll do it but this is the LAST shooting EVER. After this there will be no more cameras, no more pictures, no more posing and no more make-up alright?"   
  
"Let's say last but one?" Rumiko tried coaxing her, already having many future sessions in mind.   
  
"Promise it's the last one or I won't go." she hissed behind gritted teeth, glaring dangerously at her mother.   
  
Now Rumiko had her where she wanted but she wouldn't let that slip because of some little fight over future-sessions she might or might not hold. Better promise her now and see to those sessions later. And raising up her right hand, Rumiko proclaimed solemnly, "Alright then, I Makino Rumiko hereby declare that this is the LAST photoshoot I'll ever drag my daughter, Makino Ruki, along to!" and as an afterthought she added 'This year…'   
  
Ruki was suspicious about the overly cheerful tone in her voice, something smelled fishy and it definitely wasn't Ukyou's recent okonomiaki order. But now was not the right time to search for deeper meanings, as the feelings of fatigue and a slight headache started to rise up in her, all she needed right now was a good nights sleep simply block out all the memories of this eventful day for a while and save the thinking and musing for tomorrow.   
  
Rumiko called for Ukyou to pay for the dinner. "Thanks once again Ukyou, for the delicious meal, that'll be 1200 Yen, as always?"   
  
Ukyou suddenly directed her attention towards Ruki before accepting the money Rumiko was about to take out of her purse, "Say Ru-chan, wasn't today the day your school held a sports festival?"   
  
"Yes" Ruki answered, half in surprise, half in confusion. Surprised that Ukyou still remembered something she merely mentioned by the way three weeks ago and confused at the sudden change of topic.   
  
"And I bet you won something, ne?" Ukyou stated being sure of herself and winked at her   
  
"Uh-huh, wanna see my gold medal?" this sort of eagerness was quite unusual for Ruki, maybe she was just glad that for once, someone was interested and approved of her achievements.   
  
"Sure." Ruki pulled the medal out of her pocket and handed it over to Ukyou to take a look at it. Turning it from side to side with an outstretched arm, Ukyou ooh-ed and aah-ed at the little round piece of gold enthusiastically commenting on Ruki's attainment.   
  
"Way da go Ru-chan, straight for the gold. Congratulations, I'm very proud of you!" Ukyous' encouraging words were exactly what Ruki wanted and needed to hear after such a crazy day. Chicken soup for her ego.   
  
"Thanks" she answered, blushing slightly   
  
"This has to be celebrated, the okonomiyaki's on the house." she winked, nudging her lightly.   
  
"Oh no Ukyou, that's alright we'll pay." Rumiko budged in.   
  
"No no, it's fine, it's my gift to you and it would offend me if you wouldn't accept it." she objected.   
  
"Thank you very much, gochisosama deshita(2)." Rumiko thanked her very politely and they left the restaurant. Ruki spun around and threw Ukyou-san a genuine smile which said more than a thousand words and Ukyou understood.   
  
With a loud thud and a groan of relief and fatigue, Ruki let herself drop on her bed and started to doze of slightly, this day had been way too long. Only God knew how she'd survived it and it was now that she truly felt the total impact of her tiredness. But she had to get up once more and at least change the clothes she was wearing, she'd save the shower for tomorrow morning. Right now the only thing her remaining strength would permit her to do was wear her PJ's, which were a pair of sky-blue cotton trunks and a matching tank-top, the top had realistic clouds imprinted all over it and the word "clouds" embroidered in kinky curly letter in the upper right corner of the trunks. After dressing up, she put herself back into bed and took a quick glance at the alarm clock at her bedside, it read 10:13 PM. Quite early for her but today was an exception. As she placed the covers over herself and felt the caressing softness of her mattress and pillow beneath her a small smile curled her lips as this last thought struck her mind before she slipped off into slumber, "Last year, I was sleeping on a futon…"   
  
Rumiko stood at Rukis' door and decided whether she should step in or not. Someone had left a package behind addressed to Ruki and she wanted to give it to her, but when she saw her daughter all snuggled up and peacefully asleep, reminding her of her little girl she used to be so many years ago, she decided better not to wake her up and disturb her from whatever dream she was having at the moment.   
  
"Oyasumi nasai(4), Ru-chan." Rumiko whispered tenderly, before shutting the door silently so as not to disturb Ruki. After closing the door, Rumiko sighed a sighed in contentment and headed off to her bedroom to get some sleep herself, tomorrow promised to be a long day.   
  
7:30 AM   
  
The golden rays of the bright morning sun, shone through the blends of Ruki's window and slightly tickled her nose in an attempt to wake her up. As they reached her eyelids and caused her to blink, purple orbs met golden sunlight, instantly causing the eyelids to shut again, trying to hinder the luminous intruder from disrupting her sleep. But sooner or later, she'd have to wake up anyway, so after rubbing her eyes and blinking some few times to get them acquainted to the light, she glanced at her alarm clock standing at her bedside, telling her that it was 7:32 in the morning. Slowly pulling the covers off herself, she got up and not before yawning and stretching luxuriously and scratching her head (a habit; she did that whenever she woke up) she headed off to the bathroom to get herself ready for the day.   
Once in the bathroom, the first thing she did was take a look at herself in the mirror.  
  
'Picture perfect! Ain't I a dish at 7:30 am?' she snarled cynically at her reflection before reaching for her toothbrush, when it struck her like lightning,   
'Fukuoka!' and groaning as an afterthought 'oooh nooo… Why in the names of the deities above do I always get myself in these crap-situations, now what did I do to deserve this?'   
  
After brushing her teeth, she peeled herself out of her pajamas and hopped under the shower, in order to freshen up, because she skipped showering the day before and to help clear her mind and think things straight about this whole trip-matter. When done, she wrapped a towel around her body and stepped in front of the mirror one more time giving her reflection the hairy eyeball.   
  
'OK Makino, let's get this week over with!'   
  
"Ru-chaaan…breakfast is ready!!!" her mothers voice sounded from the kitchen.   
  
"Be there in a minute." she yelled back before walking to her bedroom to get dressed. Rummaging in her wardrobe she searched for her beige capris' and the pale turquoise-white striped armless tank top which collar wrapped itself around ones shoulders. As for her hair, she decided to tie the hair at her sides to the back so, half was up and the other half was left open. When done, she reached inside her wardrobe and pulled out her duffle bag and randomly dropped in pieces of clothing and accessories she thought she might need. In case of any eventuality Ruki always had a ready packed toilet-bag with things like toothbrushes, soaps, sponges, body-lotions et cetera ready and so she grabbed it and dumped it into the bag. "That should do it, it's only a weeks trip anyway, not a world tour." She always preferred to travel light.   
Now that she was done, she dragged the bag to the entrance and went and sat in the kitchen to have breakfast, consisting of fried eggs, toast, tea and cereals. Ruki helped herself with the cereals and decided to have some toast afterwards. Wordlessly they both ate their breakfast, Ruki carrying a not so enthusiastic expression while Rumiko sported a perpetual smile. Fortunately, and much to Ruki's surprise, she had cut down her usual morning conversations, given the fact that she was at home this morning to hold them, to "Good morning Ruki" and "Sleep well, last night?" which Ruki answered the way you'd expect her to answer. Ffurthermore, Rumiko reported that she'd faxed the excuse letter to her school this morning and now nothing would stand in the way of their trip. She smirked at the thought of Satoshi, who would neither find her in school today or for the rest of the week and Kotomi, but apart from that, her joy was limited.   
  
8:15   
  
Stowing their bags into the Mercedes' trunk Ruki shook her head at the loads her mother was taking along and went and sat up front, her mother joining her to her right, as right-hand-drive was usual in Japan.   
  
"What do you need all those bags for?"   
  
She chuckled "All those? they're only 2, you're making it sound like a whole cargo load."   
  
"Well, that's what it looks like." she answered dryly.   
  
"One always has to be prepared for every situation." she lectured jokingly.   
  
"Oh brother." Ruki rolled her eyes.   
  
Rumiko sparked the car and off they drove. Fortunately there wasn't all that much traffic going on today and they managed to reach the highway during half an hour. Looking out the window, the only view offered to Ruki, was that of a sheer endless street with busy cars rushing along it, shining in the midday sun, billboards, which were desperately trying to shove their message down your throat and light-poles flashing by so rapidly, you could hardly count them, but counting them wasn't quite what Ruki felt like doing despite her current state of utmost boredom.   
  
"How long is it going to take us?" she asked actually wanting to get off this minute.   
  
"Some 9 to 10 hours if we're on time."   
  
she stared in disbelief "Why didn't we take the train then?"   
  
"Imagine all the fuss there'd be if someone recognized me in the train." Rumikos' reply came nonchalantly and that settled the discussion for now and Ruki didn't know whether to laugh or scream, sometimes she really didn't understand her mother. The attention craving super-model was bothered that someone might possibly recognize her, as if that wasn't what she was always out for. "Oh by the way, someone came and left a parcel here for you yesterday, I wanted to give it to you but you were sleeping and I didn't want to wake you. Check my handbag, you should find it in there." she yanked her head in the direction of the handbag to show her were it lay.   
  
"Really?" she answered flatly and searched her bag. Pulling out the parcel, she was not exactly curious as to know what the purple wrapper was hiding. It had her name written on it, so it was hers all right and after holding it for 2 seconds she identified it's content, namely a book and it didn't take long to figure out who that book was from.   
  
'Kotomi' she mumbled barely audible, but her mom still caught that.   
  
"Is that a present from Koto-chan?" perking her ears and giving Ruki a quick glance before returning her attention back to the street (where it belonged), always glad to see Ruki associate with her favorite niece and wasn't it just so darling of her to give Ruki this "farewell" present?   
  
"Yes it is from Koto-chan."   
  
"Why then, go ahead and open it."   
  
"Why bother, I know what's inside already."   
  
"How come?" Ruki never minded answering that question. She unwrapped the book and looked at it for a while 'nice cover' she thought before placing it on the dashboard and returning to her beloved billboards and light-poles.   
  
Rumiko looked at her out of the corner of her eye and smiled a small smile.   
  
Her nagging sense of honor and the brain killing boring view out the car window, made her wonder, if reading that darn book wouldn't be the better option and after 2 minutes of pondering and staring at it from time to time out of the corner of her eye, she finally strechted out her arm and gingerly fingered the book and turning it around she started by reading the blurb. Just as she'd expected, a teenie love story with a not so stupid and hormone driven little barbie doll heroin, who later, despite all effort to evade cupids arrows, falls for the stunning and -oh, surprise- good-looking hero after some ups and downs during the story line. Well she wouldn't take it too serious anyway, rather read with a distance and a good portion of sceptism, and if it's that bad, at least she could have a good laugh on the account of the stupidity of this book.   
  
page one:   
  
_>>I've had enough of this bull shit they call love, there is no such thing as love, some scientists even say it all comes down to some chemical reactions in our system to which we are bound to react to. Now, look at man, who claims to have conquered the world, tamed every beast on the face of this earth and make the sky limitless, simply making the impossible possible. But when it comes to his own self, he is smitten, beaten and tossed to and fro by his own emotions and feelings, not being able to control his own self anymore and prone to do unthinkable things at the very brink of insanity, sometimes even hurting others with their impetuous actions. Why on earth would I want lower myself to such an insufferable level and make a huge fool out of myself. Where is the sense in that? Seen from the biological aspect, romantic "love" is merely the first step leading to a interpersonal relationship between a man and a woman, causing the two subjects, who plan on spending the rest of their lives together, to merge during the passionate coital act , literally becoming "one flesh" thus resulting in the birth of their offspring for reproduction to take place in order to multiply and replenish the earth. I am only 15 years of age, and I don't plan to "reproduce" or "replenish" this earth any time soon, so why indulge myself in meaningless love affairs, and waste my precious time, while I gain nothing worth the while? I don't believe in love, as I said there is no such thing as love, it's all just nothing but a worthless illusion, a figment of our imagination and as fleeting as a flash of lightning in the gray and thundery clowds of a summer thunderstorm, now you see it, now you don't….>>_   
  
'Hey' Ruki thought, slightly amazed at how un-barbie doll like this girl Akino seemed to be 'She's got a point there…' Ruki continued reading and before she knew it, she was deeply engulfed by the story, growing fond of the main character with whom she shared many opinions with.   
  
8 Hours Later   
  
"Ru-chan, we're here." the soft voice tore her out of the shallow sleep she had fallen into during the long drive, they had finally reached Fukuoka city. Rumiko had parked her car right in front of the Righa Royal Hotel, approximately 13 miles away from Fukuma beach. The lights of the city were on, cars were rushing by and the setting sun had cast its reddish-pink and purple light over the skyline of Fukuoka, donning it a somewhat slightly romantic appeal altogether. The Righa Royal Hotel was a luxurious and beautiful hotel, a marble fountain with water squirting carvings adorned the center of the lobby while a crimson wall to wall carpet decorated with little yellow crowns run along the floor and crystal lusters hung from the ceiling above. Admiring this ritzy hotel the notion ruefully struck Ruki that they were to stay here for one night only, somewhere along the drive, Rumiko had told her that they would spend the rest of the week as guests in Satôs' house. Great, that meant Nemo for a whole 24/7. Rumiko saw to the necessary arrangements and soon she held the key to their room in her hands and as soon as Ruki landed in the room, she immediately dropped her bag right at the entrance and flung herself onto the huge, soft and cozy bed with pillows as fluffy as marshmallows.   
  
"Oooh, the good life" she moaned in fatigue and pleasure, this bed sure was soft, seemingly absorbing her into the deepest depths of the mattress. Yes she would sleep very well tonight. Half an hour later, Rumiko appeared with her white bathrobe on and a towel wrapped around her head,   
  
"Care to take a shower?" she asked letting herself drop on the edge of the bed   
  
"Couldn't hurt." Ruki shrugged, lifted herself of the comfy bed and headed off to the bathroom.   
  
15 minutes later she was out and all dressed up in her PJ's lying flatly on her stomach with the book in her hands, 'Hhmm, funny' she thought 'so far, this ain't that bad' but after five pages, she felt sleep overwhelming her and she decided to put the book aside and get a wink, tomorrow promised to be a long day.   
  
The next morning Ruki woke up feeling rather good that day, something just felt right and even though she wasn't jumping for joy and prancing around the room or expressing her happiness in any other typically teen manner, her facial expression clearly revealed that this girl was in a good mood. It could have been the bright and sunny morning, the book she pretty much enjoyed so far, the fact that she wasn't working her brain to death in school at this moment (and others were), or maybe even because no, in any way, invidious incident had occurred yet, but whatever it was, which put Ruki in this good mood, she wouldn't let it be ruined by anything today, not even by the upcoming shoot. Fortunately, their window offered them a view across the beach and it was breathtaking. The sun was rising, the sky was nearly cloudless and the deep blue see glistened magically in the morning sun. Since it was only 8 AM, there wasn't much going on at the beach yet but somewhere a little far off she spotted a horde of people in the process of building up a set and she figured that this was where the shooting was to take place. Taking a look at her cell-phone which told her that it was precisely 8:14 she decided to go ahead and take a little stroll along the shore while the place wasn't filled with people and enjoy the cool sea breeze and maybe even take a look at the set. Heading to the door she yelled back into the room to inform her mother that she was leaving already. Hearing her mothers' muffled response, since she was in the bathroom, Ruki shut the door and walked over to the elevators. She pushed the button to call the elevator and since there were three of them, she tried to guess which one would arrive first. To her amusement, the elevator to her right, which she guessed would come first, did come after two minutes and she stepped in with a triumphant grin plastered on her face, taking this as a good sign.   
Right in that same instance as her doors slid shut, the doors of the left elevator slid open and a young lad clad in slightly baggy sand-colored ¾ pants and a white shirt with black sleeves and a black rimmed collar imprinted with a black vortex, encircled by the words "Fukuoka NOW" in the center of the shirt, exited the elevator and went and stood right in front of Ruki and Rumikos' hotelroom door, knocking at it politely.   
  
"Just a minute" Rumiko hastily announced before unlocking the door.   
  
"Ohayo gozaimasu, Makino-san(5), my father sent me to come and help you get your luggage down." he greeted her very politely.   
  
"Oh, good morning to you too Theo." she replied cheerfully and then pointed at the bags lying at his feet in the entrance. "Our bags are right here, thank you very much, now if you'll give me a second to get done, I'll be right with you and we can leave" he nodded and off she went to search for some last things in order not to forget them.   
  
'Did she just call meTheo???' he asked himself in astonishment. He'd heard many different variations of his name before, even though it was a very common name, but Theo was new, once someone even had the nerve to call him Nemo. Anyway, since this wasn't the first time in his life he'd gotten renamed, he simply shrugged it off and reached for the two bags on the ground. They sure weren't light 'Holy mother of Buddah, what's inside these bags?' he thought, trying to regain his balance after heaving the bags up his shoulders. Waiting patiently for Rumiko, she got done three minutes later. Standing in the door frame she took one last look around the room once more to see if she had really taken everything along, when her eyes fell on Rukis' book on her bed 'Oh, she must have forgotten it' so she quickly grabbed it and dropped it in her handbag.   
  
"Sorry to have kept you waiting for so long but I'm done now, so let's move." she apologized to him, now fully dressed in her pastel blue and yellow wrap-around skirt and a pale mint colored tank top, sunglasses tucked into the front part of the top while a large sunhat crowned her head.   
  
"No problem at all ma'am" he assured her with a slight shake of his head and they went to call the elevator   
  
Meanwhile in the hotel lobby, Ruki was about to exit the building, when she was held up by a sympathetically looking man standing at the counter, who seemed to have recognized her."You're Makino Ruki, am I right?"   
  
"Yes, I am Makino Ruki." she confirmed cautiously. One could never be too careful, most of the time the nicest looking men turned out to be the most dangerous.   
  
"I thought as much, you have your mothers eyes" Rukis' skeptical stare suddenly switched to bewilderment due to the bluntness of his unexpected comment.   
  
"Come again?"   
  
"Pardon me, allow me to introduce myself, the name's Satô." the man who turned out to be the photographer himself greeted her friendly and stretched out his arm which she politely shook.   
  
"Seems like you're mother's still to come, my son's helping her bring your luggage down you know, but if you wish to, you can go out and snoop around the set before we get there. You have my personal permission to do so or you might as well take a walk along the beach, the breeze is terrific and there ain't many people there yet." Could this man read minds or what? That was just what she was about to do. Ruki thought him nice already, seeing that no harm went out from him. Whoever said "Like father, like son" had better not been a big fat liar, or he had another thing coming.   
  
Ruki exited the lobby and strolled to the beach. Satô was absolutely right, the salty breeze which blew from the ocean and ruffled her hair was very refreshing and for a moment she simply stood there at the shore, eyes closed and listened to the sound of the sea, the movements of the waves, the whistling of the wind and the cries of the seagull. Breathing in deeply the various scents of the environment, she stretched her arms, exhaled and sighed contentedly.   
  
"Kirei na des(6)"   
  
she said to herself before looking for the set Satô talked about.   
Finding it quickly she headed over to it and decided to get to know some of the crew-members beforehand , sooner or later she would have to go there and work together with them anyway, and as they say: better the devil you know, than the angel you don't know, so checking them out right now wouldn't be such a bad idea and to be honest, she was a little bit curious. Usually she detested the mere idea of modeling but a feeling told her that this was supposed to be a whole new experience altogether.   
  
"Aaah, Ruki, glad to see you've made it" when arriving at the set, she was warmly greeted by Satô. Her mother and the boy who helped her carry the bags down, most likely his son, were there too.  
She smiled at Satô in return, before her eyes landed on his son, which instantly wiped the smile off her face.   
  
"What are YOU doing here?" she gaped in disbelief, her eyes wide in shock, hoping that he had a good excuse to be here, but she quickly regained her composure.   
  
"I see it that you've already met my son?" Satô asked in astonishment.   
  
"Hey there Ruki, nice to see you again, ohisoshiburi des(7)" he winked at her, flashing her his trademark smile.   
  
"Good morning Akiyama." she greeted him with her coolest tone, then turned over to her mother and glared at her slightly irritated,   
"I thought you said his name was Nemo?"   
  
"Nemo???"   
  
"Why it is, isn't it? Nemo, Theo?…"   
  
"The name's Ryou Mrs. Makino." he answered laughing, seemingly amused by this name-confusion issue.   
  
"Oh I'm sorry honey, my bad."   
  
"It's alright Mrs. Makino, happens all the time" he took it lightly.   
  
"Well to get things straight, allow me to introduce myself, I am Akiyama Ryou and this is my father Takeyoshi Akiyama, also known as Satô," and turning back to his father "And she dad, is Makino Ruki, the girl I once told you about who nearly beat me in that tournament a couple of years ago, remember?"   
  
"Is that so, are you the young lady who gave my boy a tough time?"   
  
'Not as tough as I'd wanted it to be' --"Well, more or less…"   
  
"It's a small world we live in, well then I'm truly enchanted to meet you again, Makino Ruki, you seem to be a very talented young woman, and that was a job well done, you see sometimes, my boy here needs someone to show him who's boss around here or he might get his head too high up in the clouds." he said ruffling Ryous' hair in a jovial manner   
  
"Dad, would you cut that out?" he protested, trying to sound annoyed but it didn't quite work for they both had to laugh and Ruki shook her head at them both, surpressing a chuckle.   
  
"OK kids, now we've got that little misunderstanding straightened out, it's time we got to work. Ryou, Ruki those are your separate cabins. You'll find all the swimm suits ready in there, after that Noriko and San will have your make-up fixed, then we take the first pictures. Now when we're done with one suit, you just go back, quickly change into another and we continue, got it?"   
  
"Got it!" Ryou replied and Ruki nodded confirmatively.   
  
'Nemo' Satô secretly snickered 'What kind of name is that?'   
  
1.)Onsen..............................Hot springs  
2.)Ittedakimasu.......................Enjoy your meal  
2.)Gochisosama deshita................The meal was tasty  
3.)Fukuoka............................City in Japan  
4.)Oyasumi nasai......................Good night  
5.)Ohayo gozaimasu....................Good morning (very formal)  
6.)Kirei na des.......................This is beautiful  
7.)Ohisoshiburi desu...................It's been a while/ long time, no see

* * *

Yaaay, finally, another chap done, hope you liked this one too, and don't worry, there will be even MORE Akiyama-kawaiiness in the following chaps, that's a promise. BTW, to all those who really speak japanese, if you find any mistakes, please be so kind as to inform me, domo arigato gozaimasu! Now, don't forget to review…   
  



	4. SASAMI

  
  
**SA-SA-MI**  
_Beach Beauty_  
  
Pu-chan: Can anyone spell l-o-n-g v-a-c??  
Well anyway Hiki-chan and I are back from "Bella Italia" and….  
  
KnH: Well yeah, I had no internet and all and when I returned I had to start learning for school and all and eversince then I've not been having a lot of time, so please excuse the long period of time you had to wait, anyway here's chapter four.  
OK so, every fic-author is entilted to at least one lame chapter in every 10, so ta-daa, here it is --!! It didn't quite turn out the way I expected it to, due to the fact that I've never seen an actual photo shoot, down't know how things are gone about with and have absoluetly no idea about make-up but bleh (yeah I know, shame on me!)  
  
Someone mentioned that this story is an original tale, well as a matter of fact it is, but it seems like I tagged it as a logical aftermath of occurances right after the Digimons return, apparently, it isn't so please accept my apology if I might have confused anybody here reading this!  
Please bare with me…  
  
Once more I want to thank Cqueen for beta-reading my fics and a big thank you to all my reviewers, I love to hear from you, domou arigatou gozaimasu "bows"  
  
Oh yeah, before I forget! Say how much are 28.000 authors who do NOT own digimon plus one?? 28.001 authors who do NOT own digimon: Disclaimer!!  
  
p.s.: get's my spacing, the paragraphs and some symbolds messed up, so it doesn't quite look as i expected it to do either..... "sigh"

* * *

Ryou and Ruki went into their separate cabins, where they met a large arsenal of swimsuits in all shapes and sizes, each of them numbered.  
  
"There are so many, when will we get done?" she spoke to herself.  
  
Then she briskly skimmed through all the various pieces hanging on the rack. They were all by Hoshihana the number one fashion label in Japan which debuted this year. Some were pretty, others pretty much OK and some were just pretty damn impossible. Noticing the tags attached to them, she quickly figured that she had to wear them in a certain order, but one thing she didn't quite get was that some of the tags had the letters PL written next to the numbers.  
  
"Now what could PL stand for?" Then taking a closer look at the piece attached to the PL tags, she had to grimase with disgust, at the pink and pale blue one piece. It was some kind of old fashioned kiddy swimsuit with a checkers pattern that looked somewhat like a picnic blanket covered with kitshy yellow daisys and broad baby blue straps, which were crossed at the back.  
"THIS is a joke right? Satô has to be joking! Whoever "designs" crap like this deserves to be punished…severly!! He can't expect me to wear this!" She hung the disgusting little piece of shame back unto the rack. In sum, there were 6 of those PL swimmsuits, one kitshier than the other, but at least two of them were agreable in Ruki's opinion, even though she still wouldn't be caught dead in the streets or at the beach freewillingly wearing one of those.  
  
After the little excurse to what lay ahead of her and pushing the PL labled ones to the back of her mind, she grabbed the first piece which had a tag with #1 written on it, quickly undressed and put it on. It was a turquoise triangle two piece with large yellow-orange petaled flower on the right cup and on the slip. She turned arround to take a look at herself in the full-body mirror in her cabin.  
  
"Aggreable! At least it's my color." Usually she preferred swimsuits to bikinis, not that they looked better (given the fact that they didn't have any likeness to some "picnic blanket"), it's just that she abhored the looks guys usually gave her when seeing her in those skimp-rags, as she preferred to call them, eventhough she didn't have a bustline like Kotomi to "present". But it still was a reason to avoid crowded beaches and even more crowded indoor pools. "OK, I think I'm done." She gave her mirror one last exasperated frown, before stepping outside the cabin only to meet another sight which simply begged her to roll her eyes.  
  
Ryo, readily dressed in his swimtrunks, waited for her outside, with a warm, expecting smile. Sure he was done faster than her but first of all he was a guy and how long does it take to wear swimtrunks, moreover if they're labled and you don't have to waste time searching for one. Besides his father was the photographer and it wasn't his first time doing this, so he knew what to do and how to go about things.  
  
"You ready?"  
  
"I won't get anymore ready by standing arround here." she cyncally sneered at him.  
  
He grinned. "That swimsuit fits you well, you look good in it." He remarked with genuine honesty.  
  
"Cut the sweet-talk, Akiyama. Let's get this over with." the coldness in her voice was only topped by her freezing look which sent unpleasant shivers down spines in all shapes and sizes.  
  
"Wow! If that look in your eyes wasn't that cold, I'd tell you to chill." He meant jokingly to make her lighten up a bit. It wasn't quite working though. The "shut-up" glance she threw him said it all.  
  
"Besides, if you're gonna be hanging arround with me for the rest of the week - 'which you're bound to do'-then it's best you stick to Ryou, 'cause Mr. Akiyama is my dad!" he laughed a little then spun arround, ready to head off to mask.  
  
'The only thing that'll be "hanging arround" here pretty soon is you from that palmtree if you don't shut up!' she grimmly thought to herself.  
  
" K, Mask is this way, follow me, I bet San and Noriko are already waiting for us." and with a swiping gesture of his hand, he showed her the right direction then taking the lead, he smiled a little, seeing her following him even if not at all willing to do so.  
Rolling her eyes and crossing her arms in front of her chest Ruki desperately wished that this day was already over. She must have been out of her right mind that day she let her mom convince her to do this. Pondering over her current situation and how messed up this whole trip seemed to be right now, realisation suddenly struck her that all along she had been staring at his back, unnaturally fascinated by the smoothness of the movement of his shoulders, not to mention the smoothness of the tanned skin which covered said shoulders.  
  
'Gotta hand it to the dork. His jokes are lame but he sure has nice skin!' Quickly she surpressed a smal smile which threatened to tugg at her lips. As if on que and able to perceive every single thought which crossed her mind, Ryou peered over his shoulder with half closed eyes and an impish smile.  
  
"This is it, we're here!" They had arrived at the "mask" 20 steps later, a large white party tent with two plastic chairs standing in the middle, surrounded by various cases, stands and mirrors, giving the impression of a makeshift beauty parlor. There was nobody there at the moment.  
  
All with a sudden, a young lady, looking much younger than her actual age, about Ruki's height stood behind Ryou and Ruki clad in a pastel green t-shirt and tight fitting hip-huggers. With a longish heart-shaped face, smooth, shiny brown hair cut to ears length in the back but leaving two chin-long bangs to frame the side of her face she somewhat reminding Ruki of the anime character Hikari Yagami from Digimon-02, with blue, mysteriously sparkling eyes hiding behing frameless circular glasses.  
Appearing behind Ryou and Ruki, tapping Ryou's shoulder the brunette grinned happily.  
  
"Hello, great to see you again, hey, Ryou." and supporting herself on his shoulders, she smacked him once on every cheek, which he warmly returned but the entire scene struck Ruki as lightly out of place. As the 'hero-boy' she assumed him to be, he was supposed to have harems of girls of all ages swarming arround him, showering him with kisses and tearing him apart limb by limb. Seeing this causual display of affection, didn't quite fit into Ruki's picture of Ryou, speaking of harem, where were all his female fans? Hadn't they caught wind yet that there was a shooting going on today at Fukuma beach, with the great Akiyama Ryou as star model? OK so this surely must have been one of the dumbest things Ruki has ever thought of, but she couldn't help it.  
  
"Hy Noriko, I'm glad to see you again too, how's life?"  
  
"Fine, just fine!" Then she turned to Ruki whome she had noticed earlier on, "And you must be Makino Ruki, am I right?"  
  
"Yes, I am." she said with an outstretched arm ready to shake hers.  
  
"Hey, honey smack to the left I'm Noriko smack to the right nice to meet you"  
  
"Nice to…meet…you too!" Ruki sputtered, slightly perplexed, not at all expecting to receive the same 'special treatment' Noriko had given Ryou earlier on. This lady had an even livlier personality than Juri, impossible as it may seem.  
  
"Ooooooh, look at you" - Noriko cooed - "What a beautiful girl you are. You're face is perfect and you have such nice and clear skin. I know people who'd kill to have skin like yours and would you look at that hair! Wonderful, bright auburn and sand coloured highlights, are they natural?" She nodded "Oh fortunate one, you look great already, but when we're done with you, you'll look even better. Come on in." and she marched ahead of them into the tent.  
  
Arching her eyebrows in disbelieve he peered over to Ryou with a look that said 'what-was-that-supposed-to-be'? Grinning Ryou simply shrugged 'I don't know'. Case settled.  
  
Both of them were now seated in one of the two plastic chairs in the center of the tent. Meanwhile Noriko's assistant named San had arrived. San, a slightly corpulent woman of egyptian origin had hispanic traits and kinky curled long dark hair, which was interrupted by dazzling blonde streaks falling wildly down her sholders before an elastic band tried to tame them at her back. Large silver hoops, her trademark earrings, danggled close to her rosy pink cheeks, which were seperated by shapely curved lips. She was very friendly and her foreign accent made her even more likeable.  
  
Now San and Noriko were buzzing arround like two hyperactive bees, when Noriko came and crouched right in front of them, and stared intently at Ruki's face, then at Ryou's then back to Ruki again, causing her initial scepsism about the whole issue to grow even more.  
  
Snap of a finger.  
  
"San, one cappuccino and one café latte, pronto!" she ordered pointing first at Ryou then Ruki.  
  
"Uhm,…I'd preferre a cup of lemon-tea…please." Ruki politely but sternly demanded expecting to have her way, as always.  
  
Silence.  
  
Surpressed chuckles.  
  
Outburst of laughter.  
  
"Well tickle my funnybone…hahaha" that was Noriko. "OK, San one Cappuccino, one Caffee Latte and one cup of lemon tea for the little lady" she added conspiratively winking at Ruki  
  
"What?" Ruki was totally left out of the picture, what on earth was going on? She turned to Ryou for further explanation, seeing that everyone except her, was in the know.  
  
"Don't worry Ruki." Ryou tried to explain between surpressed laughs, "You're not going to be served any beverages here, chuckle it's just a kind of visagist-slang, or the "coffee-code" Noriko and San use to communicate with."  
  
"Oh" came the sober reply of Ruki.  
  
"Cappuccino and Caffé Latte are relating to our complexion, so San knows which colors to pick and which kit to prepare"  
  
"Ah" If Ruki didn't have that much self control to keep her face straight, shame would've been visibly written all over it by now. How could she have known what was meant by the coffe-code? It sounded so much like an offer and she stupidly requested for tea and instantly made a fool of herself in front of San, Noriko and most of all Ryou, now if only they'd stop grinning like mad it would really helpt this already embarassing situation become less embarassing.  
  
Heaven knows where that steaming cup of delicous, sweet, lemon tea suddenly came from which San was holding and handed over to Ruki, who after mumbling a quick 'thank you' had the choice to eather gulp it down in one great sip (which would be nearly impossible or very risky due to hotness of beverage) or pointedly leave it to stand and not drink it at all (which would be very impolite).  
  
She settled with bashfully sipping it, careful not to burn her tongue (or her ego).  
  
Noriko and San proceeded to put on their faces what they called "mask". First white napkin like tissues were wrapped around their necks and an elastic band pulled their hair out of their faces. Then all with a sudden a cloud of pale pink dust materialized before Ruki's face, blurring out the world from her vision, causing her to rapidly close her eyes. Before she knew it, she felt a new layer being placed on her skin making it impossible for her to touch it for the next two hours, one major reason why she detested make-up.  
Then after the first layer, came the second one, with a bit more colours, hues, shades and different kind of nuances, laying herself on her eyelids and cheeks in light and short brushed strokes. Then a tiny comb seemed to brush her eyebrows into shape (which she thought was totally unnecessary, her eyebrows were OK as they were) followed by a short stick which's end was a spiral comb straightening out her eyelashes, making them look even more voluminous, enhancing the beauty of her eyes. After that, came a small and soft paintbrush, dipped into a shiny slightly sticky substance, which felt a bit like spit, but smelt sweeter.  
Caressing her lips, the paintbrush, left it's shiny, tasty pink fluid behind on her lips, and shine they did. Afterwards Noriko applied some of the first powder to her décolleté and her upper arms. Then, loosening the elastic band, her hair dropped unto her shoulders,Noriko took another scrutinizing look at her face and emitted some 'hmhm' sounds,  
  
"I think we'll leave the hair down, that'll suit you well." and before Ruki could object, not that she didn't mind, Noriko was in her hair with both her hands, holding and tossing it from side to side, to see which place it would be best to let her hair fall, then she picked a comb with a long and pointed end, brushed the bangs on her forehead to the right eye, and drew a line at her left side and made her hair drop to the right, applied a generous ammount of hairspray and topped everything off with a gel that left a lovely healthy-looking shimmer in her hair.  
  
Both were done now, Noriko with Ruki as well as San with Ryou, eventhough he didn't take that long, so he had the rare opportunity to watch her being beautified plus he could afford a cheeky grin because she had her eyes closed and even if she had wanted to punch him for watching her, Noriko mysteriously kept her bound to her chair with invisible shackles, rendering her immovable, so he was out of reach.  
  
But then he couldn't help it, when they both faced each other, Ruki looking even more beautiful than she always did and having her hair down, that sight sent a very pleasant shiver down his spine and a bunch of hawkmons pulling kami-kaze stunts in his gut.  
  
The slightly dazed look in his eyes, caused Ruki to pull her pretty face into a frown, which, strangly enough, as it seemed to Ryou, enhanced her beauty more than ruined it. Her sight sent hot and cold flashes up and down his system, giving him the full hardcore heebie-jeebies. For sure he had seen many pretty girls in his life before, but something about Ruki was just so different, just so out of the ordinary, rendering her incontestable that (to him) no other girl in the world could hold a candle to her.  
It wasn't just her appealing looks, her deep purple orbs like an ocean you'd want to drown in, her flaming orange and golden-sand colored hair, which hung like silk strands adorning her face you'd so like to comb your fingers through, or her tomboyishly pouted lips, forming a cute frown, tempting you to kiss it away, her milk-like skin, warm and soft, covering a beautifully slim and fragile looking body you'd love to touch, hold and embrace forever, no it was also something about her attitude, the determination flaring in her eyes, the majestic grace with which she held her head high above everything and anything else, her icy coolness, signaling danger and daring you to come closer and her beast-like courage enabling her to do the unthinkable and make the impossible possible, to Ryou Ruki was simply…  
  
"…Wow"  
  
Usually, that statement of his would have been reason enough for her fist to instantly connect with his nose, but now that San had invested so much time in making him look better (as if that was possible nn!!) plus the embarrassement she dealt with concerning the whole "coffee-code" thing topping it too, she simply settled with sticking out her tongue. Yes it was a very childish thing to do and she felt strange doing it too but wasn't this whole day strange already, and did that really matter?  
  
He grinned. Noriko giggled. San formed her lips to a silent 'aaawww'. Ruki aproved by rolling her eyes.  
  
"OK kids, you done? Ah perfect, San, Noriko, you've done a good job, ok, let's roll." Satô who had sticked his head into the tent to check on the kids noticed that they had completed the make-up part.  
  
"Shall we" Ryou asked her invitingly while getting up from his chair. Ruki shrugged and followed.  
  
'snapsnap'  
  
Very fine, yeah that's it  
'snapsnap' OK, now tilt your head a bit higher  
'snapsnap' goooood  
'snapsnapsnap' move a bit to the right  
'snapsnap'  
that's it, that's what I want to see  
'snapsnapsnap' yeah, lemme have it  
'snapsnap' Good, new pose, try to lighten up, just relax, simply relax, YES, hold it, that..that's it, very good 'snapsnapsnapsnap'…  
  
Surrounded by blinds, lamps stands, Noriko, San, her mom and Ryou Ruki stood posing tilting, stretching, "relaxing" and smiling. This wasn't quite what she hoped to be doing on a Saturday morning in Fukuoka, but then again what else was she expecting, this was a photo shoot right? And she agreed to endure this, trading it for a week of school and Satoshi now didn't she? It was all part of the deal. Now if only Ryou would stop staring at her like that, how can she relax and "smile" when people constantly keep giving her funny looks?  
  
"OK, great that was good Ruki now you go change and we'll see to Ryou's shots in the meantime." Satô ordered and Ruki marched to her cabin.  
  
Minutes later she was out with a new piece. It was a simple looking white one-piece, but what made it so special was a little abstract design at the bottom left, looking like the lable of Hoshihana, she wrapped the pale blue pareo with large yellow flowers on it arround her waist and put on a white sunhat which went with the swimsuit. Now it was her turn to watch Ryou being photographed. He looked pretty professional like he had never done anything else in his life before than posing and now and then, Ryou would throw her somewhat flirtatious glances in a way which were a total new revelation of a different facette of Ryou's personality, she'd avert her gaze exasperatedly and roll her eyes.  
  
After 2 hours and at least 200 shots Ruki was standing in her cabin in front of the rack with the swimsuits when she realised that it was time for the PL-labelled ones. She had totally forgotten to ask what that PL stood for, well now she was about to find out.  
  
Stepping out of the cabin, wearing that impossibly corny bathingsuit, she felt like she was being hit by a truck when she saw Ryou. All with a sudden it all made sense…  
  
"Partner……look!" she stammered her jaw nearly hitting ground level.  
  
Ryou was clad in a pair of swimtrunks having the same pink and pale-blue chequed picknick-blanket pattern like her suit, a yellow dasiy on the left leg and two broad, pink stripes at the his sides. He grinned sheepishly at her as she approached him, her head bowed down with her right hand covering her face. 'This is toomuch !'  
  
This was unbelievable, now they were practically wearing the same thing, what was next? Rumiko, Noriko and San were giving them both the "oh-look-at-the-cute-couple-their-so-perfect-for-each-other" stare, it irked Ruki even the more, now it would be even harder to put up a 'natural smile' for the camera.  
  
'Just drop everything and leave.' she thought to herself, but where to? 'Put up a tantrum' but wouldn't that be childish? 'Or simply bare it with dignity, it'll soon be over besides, how much worse can this get?' She silently glared at her mother, who smiled a smile of sweet innocence only she could smile. When all this was over, there'd be hell to pay, Rumiko really owed her now, BIG time.  
  
"Alright kids! As you've already noticed these are the outfits for the partner look collection, so I'll ask you to look somewhat "partnery" simply have fun, enjoy yourself, be natural" Satô instructed and then specifically adressing to Ruki added:  
"Ruki? I know the PL suits must have looked terrible to you but you see, Hoshihana is experimenting with the idea of total retro this year, saying that it's absolutely flashy and could be the bomb coming season and thus the swimsuits, but personally I think they're simply impossible. But nevermind, you're so pretty you make anything you wear look good" he smiled warmly at her intenting to chear her up, he truly understood her and in a way, he was right, the bathing-suit was ugly, but it was Ruki wearing it, that made the difference.  
  
'snapsnap' Allright, that's it 'snapsnap' yeaaaahhh, gooood 'snapsnapsnap' OK now get a little bit closer….bit closer, ….a little bit more…  
'A little bit more closer and we'd be siamese twins' Ruki thought grimmly abhoring the thought of getting so close to Ryou, skin to skin, and having to act like it was the best thing in the world… snapsnapsnap that's it! Now Ryou, try putting your arm arround Ruki's shoulder, yeah like that….'snapsnapsnap'  
In that instant Ruki desperatly fought the urge to bite his arm of, or at least throw it away, it was so disturbing, and why did he have to smell so good, this was not really promoting her concentration!  
  
"Great, well done, OK next piece!"  
  
Finaly, distance!  
  
The next 5 PL suits were sweet-smelling, bare-chested, hand-holding, water-wading, fake-smiling hell on earth for Ruki and how she prayed that this agony would soon end. Weren't there any devas or evil forces which want to destroy or at least dominate the earth, of which she has to save the world? Couldn't a gate to the digiworld just materialize and simply beam her away? No such luck.  
  
'This was the LAST time I let mom talk me into this'  
  
As the sun had vanished behind the horizon and the night had pulled it's star-speckled velvet covering over the barely clouded sky of Fukuoaka city, Ruki together with Ryou and both their parents were sitting in Sat's car, heading towards their "humble cottage" as he'd jockingly described it and they all had a quick laugh before it ebbed away, replaced by total silence and a common sense of fatigue.  
The Ryou with whom she had been holding hands earlier on, pretending to be a happy couple at the beach, posing for the camera, was the same Ryou who was now sitting next to her on the back seat, absentmindedly staring out the window without even attempting to exchange words with her.  
Everyone was so quiet, but it was better that way, Ruki wasn't in the mood for conversation and so she quite enjoyed the relaxed ride, not noticing the quick glance Satô threw them through the rear-view mirror before looking at Rumiko, who returned the glance with a conspirative smile, then he returned to focusing on the street and she went back to admiring the lovely view of the illuminated city.  
  
tbc

* * *


	5. MI CASA E SUA CASA

**MI CASA É SUA CASA!**

_My house is your house! Or?_

Hurray for grade 12 --!! tons of homework, exams and barely any free-time, I know it's the same old excuse, but that's just the way it is, I apologize to all those who were desperately waiting for this (I' sorry, couldn't handle this any sooner)! Hope you enjoy reading this cause I had lots of fun writing this chap.

But first off: I want to thank C.Queen for beta-reading my fics (memo to minna-san, go read her fics, their awesome!!)

Big thank you to my new reviewers: CiNnAmOnCoOkIeS and cool-girl027

And since Pu-chan's taking a nap, I'll take care of the disclaimer:

"ahem"  
Digimon is not mine, period!

So this was it.  
The Akiyama residence. They were all standing in the hallway, which only gave away little prospects to the peculiarities of the house. It wasn't quite what she expected Ryou's house to be like, but then again, what exactly did she expect? A dirty little 4x4 feet cubicle with grime, muck and dirt piling in every corner? Ruki blinked twice and slightly shook her head in order to rid herself from the hideous thoughts, wondering from which sick, twisted and unknown little corner of her mind they'd emerged from. The hallway was painted in a bright white which, at a certain point took up the shades of a pastel yellow, deepening as one entered the living room, then flowed into a stream of sunny yellow and golden orange which predominated the living room, doning it a some what medeterranean-flaire, produced by walls with a yellow tint, wiped over with light orange coloured sponge-technique.  
In the living room stood a massive, large, dark wooden table, decorated with flowers and fruits in glass bowls on pretty little tablecloths. The table was surrounded by mahogany-colored bast stools, each having it's own special material covering, which matched perfectly with the wall's plastering.

Even the sofa and the potplants gave you the feeling of being on vacation in a far away land without leaving your own premises, but what somehow disrupted the foreign apperance, was the flat-screen, high-definition stereo television, which seemed slightly out of place, but at least it would make watching TV fun.  
Ruki barely remembered the time she had instructed her feet to moved from the hallway into the living room and now she stood there admiring the lovely interior decration, when all with a sudden, she was torn out of her silent admiration by Ryou's voice,

"Want me to show you to your room?" he was still holding her luggage, even though she nearly had a fight with him over it early on, insisting on carrying it herself.  
Strangely enough, he'd won and so they stood there, in the middle of the living room, Ruki slightly dazed and Ryou expectant of an answer, when her mother and Satô came to join them.

"Yeah sure" she murmured, feeling a little bit uncomfortable with the four of them standing so close in one spot.

"This way, madame" and without uttering a word, she followed him, as he turned arround, as if to leave the livingroom the same way he came, only to then ascended a staircase Ruki hadn't noticed before.

Upstairs, he turned on a switch, and if it hadn't been imputed into Ruki's mind for many years now, how electricity worked, and if she hadn't wittnessed said procedure many times in her own house, she would have ment that the at first so gloomy and eerie seeming hallway, was suddenly illuminated as if by magic, simply blowing away it's scary appearance and openly inviting her to discover all it's rooms and see what they had in stall for her.  
Then Ryou took up the role of a tourguide,

"To your right, you have the guests bathroom, you can use it at anytime it pleases you. Here on your left are the three bedrooms, in which we will be sleeping, the first one's your mom's and the second one is yours, the last one, mine. Oh and let me warn you" he mysteriously added before slowly twisting the knob of door number two to add some suspence to the situation and for a brief moment, Ruki really held her breath…

"Each room has a "topic"! "

"A what?"

"A topic and yours is 'submarine' in a litteral sense, 'hope you like it!"  
The door was opened and Ruki found herself in a room which reminded one of an undersea world. The walls were panted in the most beautiful shades of blue and turquoise-green, the bed had coverings with sea-world motives printed on it, many lava-lamps were stationed across the room and one particular lamp cast the shadows of water's motion onto the ceiling while the subtile sounds of underwater living seemed to emit from somewhere. She looked arround and even spotted an aquarium built into one of the walls, and that stunned her, but she later found out, that those weren't real fish.

'And I thought these kind of bedrooms existed only in movies, either I'll fall in love with this room or it'll make me go nuts after three days' she thought to herself.

"Yeah I know, it looks strange and pretty unusual, it was my dad's idea" Ryou added hastely as if he had to justify an embarrasing accident.

"It's ok" she added non-chalantly

"Well then, where can I put your bags?" she suddenly realized that Ryou still had her luggage

"Give me that" she said and usurped her goods, causing Ryou to raise his eyebrows. Ruki simply marched in, dumped them beside the bed and sat on the edge of the bed.

It was soft, really soft.

She looked arround the room again, scrutinizing each and every object, well, except the one standing in the doorframe, hands shoved into his pockets, slightly blowing up his cheeks and shifting the little air bubble from one side to the other, a habit of his he tended to reveal whenever he was a bit nervous and at loss of words, which, to be honest, didn't happen that often. Others bit their lips or chewed their fingernails but he had that stupid habit of blowing his cheeks.

'Darn, I must look like a monkey to her…'

Akward silence slowly began to creep up and inevitably filled the atmosphere. Ruki sat there and didn't seem as if she was about to do anything against this uncomfortable situation but then, as if remembering what he was trying to tell her all along, Ryou began,

"Oh yeah, uuuhm,… the remote control for the TV and the Hi-Fi are in your nightstands drawer, as you can see, the screen's on the other wall so you can lay in bed, relax and simply enjoy the fun,… yeah"-

'OK that was stupid! Gosh, why the heck am I so damn' nervous???' he scratched the back of his head nervously.

"OK"

"And,….uuhm.. whenever you need something, I'm the room next door, just let me know …or tell dad!"

"OK"

"Well then,..uhm, good night and see you tomorrow morning, I guess..."

"Good night." he peered left and right for a moment, then grabbed the doornob and left the room, closing the door slowly but firmly.  
When Ruki knew Ryou to be away in his room, she let herself fall unto her back with a resounding thump, lay there for a long while, recollecting all the impressions and events of this unusual day and fixed her gaze to the ceiling which constantly kept shiftig its pattern. The cool water-movement shadows had a calming effect on her.

"Nice house"

Then she rose from the bed with a sudden jerk and decided that she'd need a shower after such a long day.

Ruki took her time undressing, then she neatly folded her clothes, put on her violet, light, silk yukata, a morningcoat-like kimono and grabbed her towel and the little bathing utensils in the handy toiletry bag.

Standing in the hallway, she thought to herself,

'Ok, Mr. tourguide here said that the bathroom was the first door on the right, so it must be somewhere…ah, this must be it!'

Without any second thought, she twisted the doornob and opened the door…

"Oooh!"

"Aaah!"

SLAM

…and quickly rushed back to her room.

She shut her door a bit too firmly and pressed her back against the wood, hands still klinging unto the knob her heart thumping so hard it sounded like a knock on the door to her ears and her face a pretty shade of crimson.

'Damned shit, what the heck was he doing there right now? He was supposed to be in his room! Curse you Akiyama!! kuso, kuso KUSO!!!'

After the initial exitement ebbed away, realisation struck her that no matter how loud a heart could beat, it never beat that loud, someone really was knocking at her door,

"Erm,……Ruki?" Ryou's voice came muffled through the door, mixed with confusion and embarrassement,

"I…I'm sorry, I didn't know that you wanted to use the bathroom, but I'm done now, and it's vacant……and dad said that dinner's ready, but come down whenever you want to, I'm sorry I really am, very very sorry…won't let that happen again, promise!"

Seconds of silnce elapsed…

"…OK!"

All she heard was his footsteps and the door nextdoor slam-shut, to let her know, that he had really retrieved to his room this time and the hallway and bathroom were now all clear and 100 percent Ryou-free. Hesitantly, she opened her door and sneaked into the bathroom, to take her well deserved shower.

30 Minutes Later

All four were now assembled arround the dinnig table in the "italian" living room and it seemed like Satô and Rumiko were in high spirits, which also could have been credited to the wine, but basically they were having a good time, and were talking about modeling, photography and the brilliant inner-architectural design of the house. Then Satô solemly proclaimed what exactly he had planned for tomorrow Sunday, since work couldn't continue on that day.  
He decided to take the "family" on a little picinic afternoon in one of the most beautiful parks in Fukuoka, that way, they could all relax, then go see the city and recharge their energy for the coming week, which might be filled with work and you know what they say: 'all work and no play…'  
Everybody was very delighted by the idea, and everybody meant only Rumiko. Satô realised that the idea wasn't quite embraced with the kind of euphoria and excitement that he expected from the kids, besides his son had been unusally quite the whole evening, his food was left untouched and even though he thought that his current mood was caused by initial nervousness about the Makinos sleeping over at their place and all, what was that expression on his face supposed to mean?

"Son, is everything alright? Aren't you hungry?"

"No, no, I'm fine, dad" he tried to cover up, even smiling a bit, to make it look real.  
Then Rumiko also seemed to "notice" that Ruki wasn't quite herself either.

"Honey, you haven't spoken a word all day, and your plate is still full, is everything OK?" then she quickly added as if to state the obvious,

"Oh I know, you're tired right?"

"Yeah, mom, a bit" she answered a slightly uneasy.

"Aw, Satô-san, the kids seem to be tired, maybe the day was a bit more than they could handle, but don't worry, I'm sure the picinic tomorrow will be great, right dear? Have another bite or two, and go get yourself some sleep ok, by tomorrow, everythings gonna be just peachy, you'll see." winking at her suggestively in her cheery manner, Rumiko pretended as if everything was alright.  
But Rumiko wasn't dense, she knew exactly that something fishy was going on, involving them both, she could read it in their faces, but this wasn't the right time to ask questions, she'd find out sooner or later anyway.

"Yes mom." Ruki decided to act along.

"And you too Son! It's been a long day, the two of you did a great job and I'm proud of you, but I think it's time for you to rest, so eat up and scram, get some sleep and be ready to leave the house at 10 tomorrow morning." Satô butted in, picking up the fatherly role.

"Sure, dad."

Bashfully, Ryou and Ruki exchanged quick glances which went unnoticed by Satô, not so by Rumiko, who started counting one and one together.

But things didn't turn out "peachy" the next day….

"Oh, go-good morning, Ruki"

"Mornin'."

"Did you sleep well?"

"Hm."

"You ready?"

"More or less…"

It was 9 AM in the morning and Ryou and Ruki had just met in the hallway. He bashfully greeted her on this fresh and brand new day but the occurances of the previous night had caused something between them, which they both weren't able to voice out, a seemingly insurmountable hinderance of which they knew exactly that it was there and it reduced all their convesations as if they weren't already limited, to surficial, awkward and embarrasing small talk. Ryou was unable to look her in the eyes without risking having his cheeks adorned by a deep red blush and she, even though she seemed to act with a coolness as if nothing ever happened, it was obviously clear that she avoided his eyes.  
Then there was this whole bathroom thing again. They both had to go in and freshen up, right now, but who would be first?

Reluctant silence.

But then someone had to take the first step,

"If you like, you can go in, I'll just use the bathroom downstairs." Ryou started cautiously

"…Alright."

"Ok then,…I'll meet you downstairs,…I mean not like that I'll meet you, I'll see you later I mean,…downstairs… erm,…, " with that, he fixed his gaze to the floor and quickly dashed past her and down the stairs he went.

Ruki stood looking in the direction Ryou had just sped off to, her eyebrows arched, her face read surprise, but then a small mischievious grin tugged at her lips,  
'He is nervous…'

"Allright ladies, fasten your seatbelts, it's picinic time! Hope you've grabbed everything you need and nothing's forgotten? Good, then let's roll!"

Those were Satô's words, which initiated one of the longest weeks ever in Ruki's life, a very eventful week, which Ruki definitely wasn't going to forget that easily…

tbc


End file.
